Revised 7/1/2008

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 2000-2007:

639

Population 2000:

38,264

Avg. Ann. Growth Rate 1980-2000:

1.02%

Population Estimate 2006:

38,878

Avg. Ann. Growth Rate 2000-2007:

0.24%

Population Estimate 2007:

38,903

Percent Change 2006-2007:

0.06%

Persons Per Square Mile 2007:

36.8

Economic Data

Value

Rank

Value

Rank

Jobs 1980:

9,491

Personal Income (PI) 2006:

$954,440

Jobs 1990:

11,659

Avg. Ann. Growth Rate (PI) 1969-2006:

7.7%

Jobs 2000:

11,804

Per Capita Personal Income 2006:

$24,550

Jobs 2005:

11,565

% of U.S. PCPI 2006:

67%

Jobs 2006:

11,752

Average Wage Per Job 2006:

$27,125

Numeric Change Jobs 2005-2006:

187

% of U.S. Avg. Wage Per Job 2006:

65%

Avg. Annual Growth Rate 1980-2000:

1.22%

Unemployment Rate 2007:

6.4%

Avg. Annual Growth Rate 2000-2006:

0.26%

Avg. Unemployment 1998-2007:

6.0%

Tax Data

Value

Rank

Value

Rank

Assessed Property 2005:

$162,079,433

Per Capita Assessed Property 2005:

$4,236

County Base Millage Rate 2007:

0.1156

Additional Sales Tax (if applicable)

Value of One Mil 2007:

$157,217

Local Option Sales Tax:

1.0%

Millage Cap FY09:

2.9%

Capital Projects Sales Tax:

Net Taxable Sales FY06:

$298,804,080

School District Sales Tax:

Admissions Tax Collected FY06:

$30,710

Transportation Sales Tax:

Accommodations Tax Collected FY06:

$452,326

Financial & Employment Data

Value

Rank

Value

Rank

Total Revenues FY06:

$29,399,636

Per Capita Revenues:

$768

Total Expenditures FY06:

$33,796,679

Per Capita Expenditures:

$883

General Fund Budget FY08:

$22,603,117

Per Capita General Fund Budget:

$591

Total Debt Outstanding FY07:

$16,705,940

Per Capita Debt Outstanding:

$415

Payroll FY 2008:

$13,934,840

Credit Rating(s) FY07

Full-Time Employees FY08:

330

Moody's:

Part-Time Employees FY08

Standard & Poor:

Full Time Emp/1,000 Cnty Residents:

8.62

Fitch: