Conway officials ask Horry County to negotiate participation in TIF for former Granger Generating Station

City attorneys and Conway officials urged Horry County to authorize staff-level negotiations on a proposed tax increment financing district to finance public infrastructure for redevelopment of the former Granger Generating Station.

Gary Pope, identified in the record as the city’s attorney, described how a TIF would work and said the city has already established the district. "What we're proposing is a tax increment financing district," Pope said, explaining that the mechanism sets a baseline property value and captures incremental increases in assessed value to repay bonds issued for publicly owned infrastructure. He said the city had locked in the baseline assessed value as of 12/01/2025 and projected assessed value growth "from 2,700,000 to 12,900,000 over the term." Pope told the council the city is asking for a borrowing limit of $80,000,000 to support public infrastructure projects.

Adam (as introduced by the Chair) described the site and the city’s vision for it, inviting council members to tour the property. "It's amazing," he said, noting the site’s environmental rebound after ash-pond restoration and describing it as a potential public destination. Adam said the city would issue bonds and might backstop them with existing city revenues; he stressed that county participation would be voluntary and subject to a later agreement.

Council members asked clarifying questions about who would issue bonds and the timing. Pope and Adam said the city would issue the bonds and that any county participation would be defined in an intergovernmental agreement. Pope emphasized the proposal's flexibility: "I've provided a form of intergovernmental agreement to county attorney and county administrator...a very flexible document that can be drafted to address almost any concern you may have."

The presentation covered projected costs for public infrastructure, potential environmental remediation as the site is likely to be a brownfield, and priorities such as public amenities at the ash pond and a downtown parking deck. Pope said the city had obtained a third-party economic analysis with a CCU professor that concluded undertaking the TIF was worthwhile. The record shows no formal county action on the TIF at this meeting; the Chair indicated staff should proceed with further discussions and the committee recorded no action items but signaled willingness to continue negotiations.

The next procedural step described on the record was authorization for county staff to continue negotiating an intergovernmental agreement if the council so directs. The presentation was framed as an initial, timely request tied to the city's pending MOU with a private developer.