USDA loan may not come in time for South Carolina town

1/16/2012

The town of Latta, South Carolina, is running out of options to relocate its water and sewer lines to make way for a new highway, WPDE-TV reports.

Latta needs $810,000 to move the lines, a necessary process because of the incoming construction of a new highway, Interstate-73.

The State Department of Transportation is offering to pay for the lines to be moved, but only under the condition that Latta maintains all of the town's roads, a change which would effectively "bankrupt the town," Latta utilities director Harold Snipes told the news source.

Latta's town council has also suggested applying for a USDA loan, an option that would mean raising sewer rates by as much as 22 percent to pay it back. Also, the application process wouldn't allow the town to see the money until July - four months later than the March relocation deadline.

South Carolina Now reports that Latta's water lines have been an ongoing problem for residents for as long as they can remember. According to resident Carroll Stephens, the town is "probably about 50 years behind the times with (its) water lines."