Cope fighting to remain a town; population of 37 is too small to be SC municipality

The 2020 census reported the town’s population as 37, a decline of 77 from the 2010 census.

The small population was not much of an issue until Oct. 4, when S.C. Secretary of State Mark Hammond sent Mayor Janet Joye a letter warning her that the town would be disincorporated since the population fell below 50.

Hammond’s notice followed a letter his office received from the S.C. Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office. The letter notes the town’s “certificate of municipality must be automatically forfeited and void” as part of the state’s 1962 disincorporation law.

The law states “when following its incorporation a municipality’s population has decreased to less than fifty inhabitants, the certificate of the municipality must be automatically forfeited and void.”

Because the law does not specify how the population should be measured or the process used to forfeit the incorporation, the town immediately challenged the census count and the threat of disincorporation by conducting a face-to-face count of individuals living inside the city limits.

This effort resulted in a population count of 61 people, above the 50 required to remain incorporated.

The Secretary of State’s office confirmed Oct. 18 that it received updated information from the town and has begun the process of verifying the addresses provided with Revenue and Fiscal Affairs to determine if the individuals do in fact live within the town limits.

As of Oct. 23, the office was still awaiting verification that the addresses provided are within the town limits of Cope, according to the office’s general counsel and Public Information Director Shannon Wiley.

Once that information is received, Joye will provide an affidavit that affirms the information on the residents living at those addresses is correct.

The Secretary of State’s Office is holding off on officially disincorporating the town until population numbers are verified.

Mayoral candidate William Workman IV says he fully expects to maintain the town’s status.

“We don’t want to be taken over by the county,” Workman said. “We prefer to take care of our own business.”

Joye could not be reached for comment.

Cope resident and Cope Baptist Church pastor Anthony Day said he is happy the town will remain incorporated.

“Not being unincorporated is a good thing. As a town, I think it helps us out a little bit, but if it does ever eventually become unincorporated, we will have to cross that bridge when we get there,” Day said.

He does not feel like he is lacking for services despite Cope’s size.

“The town does a great job of keeping the small town vibe,” Day continued. “I think that is what a lot of these residents enjoy. The small town vibe of Cope. I think that is why people still live here. You don’t deal with the city traffic. You don’t deal with the city problems.”

“You deal with the small town,” Day continued. “Everybody knows everybody and when things take place, your neighbors are there to help you as well.”

“The fire department is only, what, a half a mile from the actual town itself,” Day said. “We have a great volunteer fire department – very fast to react when things are taking place.”

“On paper it may look like we are slowly fading away, but in real life we are here,” Day said.

Senator acts

The threat of disincorporation caught the attention of Sen. Vernon Stephens, D-Bowman.

Stephens sent the Secretary of State’s office a letter on Oct. 13 informing them about the town’s efforts to rectify the situation.

Stephens said he felt like he needed to get involved because he represents the town and was informed of the state law.

He spoke with town council members, Orangeburg County administration, the Lower Savannah Council of Governments, the Municipal Association of South Carolina and the Orangeburg County Voter Registration and Elections Office and all seemed to be OK with the town still being in existence.

“It was my responsibility to initiate and try to rectify the situation,” Stephens said.

Stephens said he hand-delivered the letter to the Secretary of State’s office.

“The lack of individuals goes back to the census and individuals not filling out the census,” Stephens said. “We have a substantial undercount in Orangeburg County and most rural counties have such.”

Stephens is confident the face-to-face count is accurate and will save the Town of Cope.

“We made sure all our i’s were dotted and t’s crossed,” Stephens said. He asked the Secretary of State to expedite a decision on the matter.

“Time is of the essence as it is the season for setting millage rates and for preparing for elections,” Stephens wrote.

Unchartered territory

Cope is in some relatively unchartered territory if it does in fact become disincorporated.

Wiley said she could not answer questions related to what will happen to services the town provides for its residents, what will happen with the taxes collected, or what role the state will play in helping the town.

“There is little to no statutory guidance on this,” Wiley sad. “Also, the Secretary of State’s Office does not have the statutory authority to ‘wind up’ a town or dispose of its assets or liabilities.”

Cope is not alone in seeing its incorporation status threatened.

Jenkinsville in Fairfield County has a population of 40. There were 46 living in the town during the 2010 census. The town also got a letter of warning about its incorporation status.

Cope and Jenkinsville may not be the only towns to have their incorporation status in jeopardy over the coming decades.

Population trends show the state’s urban areas are growing while its rural areas are hemorrhaging population.

Currently, South Carolina has about 271 towns and cities and 14 have less than 100 people.

Govan in Bamberg County is the fifth least-populated town in the state with only 56 people, according to the 2020 census. The town’s population at the 2010 census was 65.

In Govan’s 2021 election, Wilma Edmonds received all 12 cast votes. There were no other candidates running for the position and no write-in votes.

The other council members also each received 12 votes and none was opposed.

Edmonds could not be reached for comment.

According to the Secretary of State’s office, Cope and Jenkinsville will be the first towns in decades to be forced to surrender their incorporation because the population dropped below 50.

“Our office does not have records indicating that a town in Orangeburg, Calhoun or Bamberg counties has had its charter forfeited and voided due to a drop in population,” Wiley said. “The towns that have lost their municipal charter based on a population decrease have been in other counties (McCormick, Aiken, Darlington, Marion and Allendale).”

Cope’s governing body

Cope’s five-member town council currently meets quarterly and deals with business such as organizing an annual Christmas parade.

Otherwise, its responsibilities are few.

Workman IV says the town has enough of a tax base to provide for its residents despite its small size.

“We keep the town clean, we cut the grass,” he said. “We keep the parks up, the basketball court and the tennis courts up.”

The town receives its electricity from Dominion Energy, its water from the Orangeburg Department of Public Utilities and its gas from Bamberg. Police protection is from the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office and the S.C. Highway Patrol, and fire protection is from the Orangeburg County Fire District.

The town also has Internet access with AT&T.

The town has used state funds to help build parks and a walking trail.

The state provides funding for towns and cities through the Local Government Fund, but that funding is based on population or the local share of taxes collected on specific businesses.

Cope is expected to receive less than $1,000 from the state as part of the Local Government Fund.

Joye has been mayor since 1992 but did not file for re-election this year. Workman IV is the only one to file for the seat.

Marlene, Workman’s wife, has filed for re-election to town council. Workman’s son, Billy Workman V, has also filed for election to council.

Two of the other council seats are filled by husband and wife Darren and Jean-Marie Jump.

The couple also did not file for re-election but are running as write-in candidates.

If all the seats are not filled, a special election will be held to fill the vacant seats, according to Orangeburg County Voter Registration and Elections Director Aurora Smalls.

The Town of Cope used to be more populated back in the day.

According to the historical census population data, the town had 280 residents in 1940. This was the high-water mark, population-wise.

In addition to a small population, Cope is also small in size. The town is only half a square mile.

The Town of Cope was named for Jacob Martin Cope, who sold a portion of his land in the 1890s to be used for the town and train depot.

The Manchester and August Railroad was established in 1894 (the same year the town was established) and the tracks were later used by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad.

The railroad brought commerce and people to Cope.

In a few years, the town had two churches, general stores such as the Vallentines Store, a grist mill and a cotton gin, according to historical archives.

The town stopped being a railroad stop in the 1960s.

Today, Cope has no retail businesses aside from a small post office.

The rail line running through town carries only coal for Dominion Energy’s power plant and many of the buildings in the center of town are empty reminders of what Cope once had — a bank, a general store and a phone company.