News and Announcements

As of 2 a.m. on August 4, 2020, the Horry County Emergency Operations Center will close following Hurricane Isaias and the county will return to OPCON 3, normal daily operations. The emergency phone bank will close at 2 a.m. today as well. 

Horry County Government offices will resume normal operations at 10 a.m. today, Tuesday, August 4, 2020. 

Horry County operates on three OPCON levels: 

OPCON THREE- Normal Daily Operations

Agencies plan, train, coordinate and exercise as needed. Incidents are monitored by the county warning point and county emergency management. 

OPCON TWO - Enhanced Awareness

A disaster or emergency is likely to affect the county. Emergency operations plans are implemented. The County Emergency Operations Center is partially activated if necessary. 

OPCON ONE - Full Alert 

A disaster or emergency is imminent or occurring. The County Emergency Operations Center is fully activated. Emergency response personnel are activated. 

 

Horry County Council has declared a localized state of emergency to adopt emergency ordinances to meet public emergencies affecting life, health, safety or the property of the people in our area. The declaration will remain in effect for sixty (60) days unless sooner terminated by resolution by County Council. 

Click here to review the ordinance.

In conjunction, the Horry County Emergency Management Department has moved to OPCON 2 (Level 2 Operation Condition) meaning the county is now operating in a heightened state of awareness with emergency plans beginning to be implemented. County officials have begun discussions with South Carolina Emergency Management, coastal communities including local municipalities, and will continue to monitor the situation closely. 

The Horry County Emergency Operations Center is not currently activated, however, Horry County Emergency Management will continue to keep the public aware of changes in the forecast and appropriate action will be taken as necessary. Should the Emergency Operations Center activate, the Emergency Phone Bank will also activate at that time.

In anticipation of possible effects on Horry County from the tropical system, Horry Emergency Management wants to remind all citizens that waiting for a watch or warning is waiting too long! Begin preparation now by:

• Surveying your property to mitigate potential flooding, such as making sure storm drains and gutters are clear of debris. 
• Having family hurricane plans in place.
• Ensuring family emergency/hurricane kits are ready; including items like water, batteries, flashlights, etc. 
• Continually monitoring reputable weather information sources such as local media or the National Hurricane Center for the most up to date hurricane information.
• Keeping vehicles fueled up and serviced. 
• Being sure that you Know Your Zone! Go to Horry County’s website at http://www.horrycounty.org/Departments/EmergencyManagement/Hurricanes/KnowYourZone to find your zone.
• Knowing where you will evacuate if asked to.
• Making plans for pets.

Additional hurricane information can be found on Horry County’s website at www.horrycounty.org.

Horry County Emergency Management Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/horrycountyemergencymanagementdepartment

Horry County Emergency Management Twitter: https://twitter.com/HorryEMD

 

Meeting attendees are encouraged to wear a face-covering when entering the building and when social distancing is not possible or practical.

 

Imagine 2040 Steering Committee

Thursday, August 6, 2020, 2 p.m.

Click here to view and download the agenda.

 

Planning Commission

Thursday, August 6, 2020, 5:30 p.m.

Click here to view and download the agenda or here for the packet.

 

Please Note: The T. Craig Campbell boat landing located in North Myrtle Beach will be closed starting Monday, August 3, 2020, for asphalt repair. The landing is expected to remain closed for five (5) days, weather permitting. Boaters are urged to visit one of the other landings located throughout Horry County. A listing of all of the landings and their locations can be found here.

 

Horry County Government COVID19 Operations Update

Following the guidance from Governor McMaster and state agencies, Horry County will allow public access to its buildings with the best safety practices being implemented. Safety measures will include:

• Everyone in high-traffic public areas will be required to wear masks while inside facilities. This includes lobbies, waiting areas, customer service counters, etc. Everyone is encouraged to bring their own mask and wear it prior to entering the facilities.
• Occupancy limits are set in public areas of offices and lobbies.
• Physical distancing guidelines are in place.
• Services made available online will continue and the public is encouraged to use online services when possible.
• Additional hand sanitizing stations are stationed in public areas.
• Enhanced cleaning operations will continue.

To help alleviate crowding in public areas, Horry County encourages individuals to continue to do business online and over the phone with county departments where possible. Horry County will continue to phase into operations as conditions permit, and ask for patience if wait times exist.

Anyone planning to visit a County building should be prepared to check in with staff located at the entrance to the facility. Visitors may be asked to wait outside the office or facility depending on the capacity of the facility.

County officials remind everyone to continue to follow CDC and S.C. DHEC safety guidelines as well as Governor McMaster’s executive orders that remain in effect.

Juror selection will resume for the term beginning the week of August 10, 2020, with precautions in place.

All local Magistrate Offices are open to the public for filings and court.

Central Traffic Court is open as well as is the Central Jury Court. Central Jury will only be receiving guilty pleas, so the public will not be required to serve jury duty.

Preliminary hearings have been canceled until further notice.

 

The Governor issued an Executive Order that will go into effect on Monday, August 3, 2020 mandating that all previously recommended guidelines for restaurants and other establishments that attract groups of people are now mandatory. You can review those guidelines here:  https://governor.sc.gov/news/2020-07/gov-henry-mcmaster-takes-additional-action-slow-virus-spread.

In order to ensure that our business community understands and complies with these new mandates, Horry County Government created a team comprised of staff from Horry County Police Department and Horry County Code Enforcement to proactively educate businesses regarding the Governor’s orders and how they can protect their customers and staff by following these orders. Our goal is to help businesses understand and comply with these orders.

Compliance issues can be reported Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. by calling 843-915-5000 and on weekends and after hours by calling the non-emergency dispatch line at 843-248-1520. You can also send an email to info@horrycounty.org.

The Horry County Auditor’s Office is pleased to announce further improvements to their online e-filing systems for business personal property taxes. Since e-filing was introduced in 2017, it has become the most secure and preferred method of filing.

To date, the office has input 100,000 business personal property tax accounts. In the coming year, they will be able to add 150,000 additional accounts with assistance from new Robotic Processing Automation RPA from Blue Prism technology. The cost of the RPA technology for this project was $15,000. An estimated 3,000 hours of staff time will be saved annually with this new system allowing staff to focus on other projects and customer service initiatives.

There are plans to implement this same technology in other offices across the county to improve efficiencies and reduce staff time on manual data entry. In an effort to make more services paperless and to improve office efficiencies, the e-filing system and digital record keeping implemented by the Auditor’s office has allowed them to move the equivalent of 99 filing cabinets and 700 boxes of files to records retention.

“Working together with the Auditor, Assessor and Treasurer, our IT Department has done an absolutely fantastic job helping us implement new technology to save our taxpayers time and money,” said Auditor Lois Eargle. “We are going to continue to work together to make improvements and make our systems more efficient.” 

Property subject to business personal property taxes include the furniture, fixtures, and equipment owned and used in business and accommodation type properties not primary residence. Property owners who have questions about filing business personal property taxes and the e-file e-form PR-26 can call the Horry County Auditor’s Office Business Personal Property Division at (843) 915-5054 or email auditor@horrycounty.org.