AIKEN - Residents in and around Graniteville who were evacuated because of the deadly Jan. 6 train collision and chlorine spill will get an extended period to pay their property taxes.
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State Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom said in a letter Tuesday that he'd extend the due date by the total number of days residents were forced to leave their homes, starting from the accident date and ending when the last person returns home.
Taxes were due Tuesday.
Aiken County Sheriff Michael Hunt estimated that there are still between 150 and 200 people displaced and that it could be several days yet before they can return.
Residents will get an extension of at least 12 days to pay their bills, given that not all of the 5,400 evacuees had returned home Tuesday.
"As soon as law enforcement officials and (state Emergency Management Division) representatives have informed me of the specific date that all evacuees have been permitted to return to their property, I will immediately notify Aiken County property tax officials of the exact number of days of this deadline extension," Mr. Eckstrom wrote in his letter to county officials.
There are an estimated 1,500 parcels in the one-mile evacuation zone around the crash site, and about 40 percent of the land owners hadn't paid their taxes yet, County Administrator Clay Killian said.
Residents who are given an extension and still fail to pay on time will be forced to pay fines, which will likely have grown to 15 percent, Mr. Killian said.
The Aiken County Council adopted a resolution Tuesday night to allow the tax payment extension and also voted to end the county's state of emergency, which was declared on the day of the accident.
The two-train wreck killed nine people and sent hundreds of others to the hospital.
"The last few weeks have just been unreal," said Councilwoman LaWana McKenzie, who joined other council members in thanking Sheriff Hunt for his continued management of the disaster and subsequent cleanup.
"I don't think I've been prouder," Ms. McKenzie told the sheriff.
Reach Josh Gelinas at (803) 648-1395, ext. 113, or josh.gelinas@augustachronicle.com.
Special Section: Graniteville Train Wreck
On January 6, 2005, a Norfolk Southern Corp. freight train carrying chemicals hit a parked train near an Avondale Mills plant in Graniteville, South Carolina. The impact caused poisonous chlorine gas to leak from three of the moving train's cars. Nine people were killed and more than 5,000 people were evacuated from the site.
For complete coverage of the Graniteville train wreck, visit our special section.
