2/2/2010

Date Formed:

1800

Land Area (square miles):

1,056

County Seat:

Walterboro

Other Cities and Towns:

Cottageville, Edisto Beach, Lodge, Smoaks, Williams

Form of Government:

Council-Administrator

Council Members:

Method of Election

Single Member

Term Length

4 years

Council of Government:

Lowcountry

County History

Colleton County was named for one of the Lords Proprietors, Sir John Colleton (1608-1666). The county was first created in 1682 under the proprietary government, but the designation was seldom used in the colonial period. Instead, the area was known by its parish names: St. Bartholomew, St. Paul, and St. George Dorchester. In 1769 these parishes became part of Charleston District, where they remained until Colleton District was formed in 1800. A portion of the county was removed in 1897 to form Dorchester County. Several Revolutionary War skirmishes took place in Colleton County, and the state legislature met in the town of Jacksonboro in 1782 while Charleston was occupied by the British. This part of the lowcountry was known for its extensive rice and cotton plantations, many of which were bought by Northerners after the Civil War for use as hunting preserves; some of those lands are now being incorporated into the ACE Basin, a nature preserve bounded by the Ashepoo, Combahee, and Edisto rivers. The Revolutionary War hero Isaac Hayne (1745-1781) was a Colleton resident, as were politicians Rawlins Lowndes (1721-1800) and William Lowndes (1782-1822).

Population Trends

Value

Rank

Value

Rank

Population 1980:

31,776

Numeric Change 1980-2000:

6,488

Population 1990:

34,377

Numeric Change 2000-2008:

755

Population 2000:

38,264

Avg. Ann. Growth Rate 1980-2000:

1.02%

Population Estimate 2007:

38,916

Avg. Ann. Growth Rate 2000-2008:

0.25%

Population Estimate 2008:

39,019

Percent Change 2006-2008:

0.26%

Persons Per Square Mile 2008:

36.9

Economic Data

Value

Rank

Value

Rank

Jobs 1980:

9,491

Personal Income (PI) 2007:

$988,535

Jobs 1990:

11,659

Avg. Ann. Growth Rate (PI) 1969-2007:

7.6%

Jobs 2000:

11,804

Per Capita Personal Income 2007:

$25,402

Jobs 2006:

11,752

% of U.S. PCPI 2007:

66%

Jobs 2007:

11,753

Average Wage Per Job 2007:

$28,609

Numeric Change Jobs 2006-2007:

% of U.S. Avg. Wage Per Job 2007:

65%

Avg Ann Growth Rate Jobs 1980-2000

1.22%

Unemployment Rate 2007:

8.4%

Avg Ann Growth Rate Jobs 2000-2007

-0.06%

Avg. Unemployment 1998-2007:

6.0%

Tax Data

Value

Rank

Value

Rank

Assessed Property 2007:

$166,862,888

Per Capita Assessed Property 2007:

$4,361

County Base Millage Rate 2009:

0.1162

Additional Sales Tax (if applicable)

Value of One Mil 2009:

$165,886

Local Option Sales Tax:

1.0%

Millage Cap FY10:

4.1%

Capital Projects Sales Tax:

Net Taxable Sales FY07:

$287,047,982

School District Sales Tax:

Admissions Tax Collected FY07:

$35,356

Transportation Sales Tax:

Accommodations Tax Collected FY07

$500,905

Financial & Employment Data

Value

Rank

Value

Rank

Total Revenues FY08:

$29,238,880

Per Capita Revenues FY08:

$764

Total Expenditures FY08:

$32,677,502

Per Capita Expenditures FY08:

$854

General Fund Budget FY10:

$26,673,655

Per Capita General Fund Budget FY10:

$697

Total Debt Outstanding FY08:

$16,866,636

Per Capita Debt Outstanding FY08:

$415

Payroll FY 2008:

$13,890,576

Credit Rating(s) FY08

Full-Time Employees FY10:

369

Moody's:

Part-Time Employees FY10:

Standard & Poor:

Full Time Emp/1,000 Cnty Residents:

9.64

Fitch:

updated

2/2/2010