Who do I need to talk to about… ?

One of the most frequently asked questions I get (and that we get messages about at the Taylors TownSquare website) is some version of "who do I need to talk to about (insert thing here)?" Some frequent things include:

• Business licenses (Greenville County does not require them, but some cities in the County do).

• My neighbor built a fence too close, and I want to know if they can do that (it varies based on where you live).

• I want to talk to someone about the road in front of my house (who you talk to depends on the road).

There are many more questions like this, but you get the idea. 

Over the coming months, as we have time, I would like to help you all understand a bit more about how government (primarily at the local and state level) works. We can all be better citizens if we know a bit about how government works in our community, so I hope you'll stick with us for the journey.

If you know someone who would benefit from this information, consider sharing this email with them. They can subscribe to this email list on our website or by clicking here.

For today, I want to share with you a couple of resources to get started.
 

Local Government and Home Rule

This is your guide if you want a single, relatively concise read on how it all works in South Carolina.  It lays out:

• What's "Home Rule?"

• What's a city, and what's a county?

• Where do School Districts fit in?

• How does the money work?

I hope you'll take a few minutes and check out this guide; I've found it to be a valuable reference when I get a bit confused (as we all do!).
 

Simple Civics: Greenville County

One other great resource has been the Simple Civics: Greenville County podcast from Greenville Partnership for Philanthropy and the NonProfit Alliance. Episodes are short but have great insight into how things work in the Greenville area.

You can view their website here, or subscribe on Apple Podcats or Spotify.