Your Co-op News
2011 Holiday Closings
- New Year’s Day Friday, December 31
- Martin Luther King’s Birthday Monday, January 17
- Good Friday Friday, April 22
- Memorial Day Monday, May 30
- Fourth of July Monday, July 4
- Labor Day Monday, September 5
- Thanksgiving Day Thursday, November 24
- Day after Thanksgiving Friday, November 25
- Christmas Eve Friday, December 23
- Christmas Day Monday, December 26
Celebrate Marlboro Electric’s 70th Annual Meeting
We have a 'seat' waiting for you!
Marlboro Electric is celebrating 70 years of service! Each co-op member registered and present at Marlboro Electric’s 70th Annual Meeting will receive a red fold-out stadium chair and two compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs. Registered and present members will also be eligible for the Grand Prize, Semi-Grand Prizes and many other prizes.
When: Saturday, April 16, 2011
Where: Marlboro County High School
Fayetteville Avenue Bennettsville, South CarolinaTime: Registration 12 Noon until 2:00 P.M.
Business Meeting begins at 2:00 P.M.GRAND PRIZE: 2006 Ford 150 truck
SEMI-GRAND PRIZE: Refrigerator, washer & dryer, stove and a television
ENTERTAINMENT: Melody Aires Gospel Group
WIRE sponsored CONCESSIONS, RAFFLE & BOOTHS
HEALTH FAIR by Marlboro Park Hospital
BLOOD DRIVE by American Red Cross
FACE PAINTING CLOWNS by Snikkles and Lemonade
Marlboro Electric paid over $921,000 in taxes
We aren’t just an electric company, we’re a local business looking out for you. Like all individuals and businesses, the electric co-ops pay taxes annually.
Marlboro Electric Cooperative paid $921,000 in property taxes alone to Marlboro and Dillon counties for 2010. The co-op serves over 6,500 consumers in these two counties.
Property taxes for 2010 were paid to Marlboro County in the amount of $635,776 and to Dillon County in the amount of $204,948. In addition, Marlboro Electric paid $18,996 in vehicle taxes to Marlboro County and $61,780 in SC Excise (Power) tax in 2010.
Overall, Marlboro Electric has paid $2.7 million in property taxes alone to Marlboro County in the past five years, and $844,000 in property taxes to Dillon County in the past five years.
As a non-profit business, Marlboro Electric Cooperative does not pay corporate income taxes. However, since it is a member-owned co-op, Marlboro Electric Cooperative often returns any proceeds above operating expenses to its members in the form of capital credits. The cooperative returned a total of $190,163 in capital credits in 2010.
Electric co-ops in South Carolina pay tens of millions of dollars in taxes each year to federal, state, county and municipal governments. In addition to the taxes paid by Marlboro Electric, the wholesale power aggregator for the state’s co-ops, Central Electric Power Cooperative, paid over $68,000 to Marlboro County and over $51,200 to Dillon County in property taxes.
The tax payments and capital credits are only two ways that Marlboro Electric Cooperative provides support to our community. School systems, law enforcement, road construction and maintenance, and so many other services are underwritten locally by property tax dollars. Since our own customers, as well as the public at large, depend on these services, Marlboro Electric Cooperative plays a significant role in funding them.
As you can see, we are continuously looking out for you.
Co-op aids Dillon County Mega Industrial Site
Certification will help project attract large industry, jobs Marlboro Electric Cooperative and the S.C. Power Team will help attract industry and jobs with grant funding for site certification of the Dillon County Mega Industrial Site.
Dillon County Council in November unanimously accepted a grant from the cooperative and the S.C. Power Team to pay for studies to certify the 2,000-acre site, located on Interstate 95. The Power Team is a statewide economic development agency of the state’s independent, consumer-owned electric co-ops and their chief power supplier, the state-owned utility Santee Cooper.
Marlboro Electric’s President and CEO Bill Fleming said, “We are thankful to Dillon County Council for coming together as a team with a unanimous decision to improve economic development. We appreciate their dedication to future growth of the Mega Industrial Site. Marlboro Electric and the S.C. Power Team look forward to investing resources into the site certification project to establish an industrial site with integrity.”
Certification proves that a site can accommodate industries with large operations, Fleming said. The process involves evaluation to prove the site meets requirements for proper zoning, rights of way, mapping, surveying, water systems, transportation access, environmental audits, electric infrastructure, telecommunications and engineering.
“With a certified industrial site, Dillon County will be able to market to worldwide companies and bring in major employers to the area,” said Fleming. “The uniqueness of this project is that Dillon County has favorable demographics because it will be the only certified industrial megasite in South Carolina with rail accessibility.”
The Industrial Mega Site surrounds the I-95 Gateway Industrial Park, where Marlboro Electric Cooperative serves Harbor Freight, a major area employer. Fleming said, “The site offers tremendous potential to attract major manufacturing, auto makers, large distribution centers and other large operations.”
Cooperatives like Marlboro Electric promote economic development in order to attract industries to their service areas, which creates jobs for their members and other local residents, Fleming said. Large industries also help the co-op hold down rates for residential members because they purchase significant amounts of power, he noted.
Local WIRE chapter to meet
Please join us at the next WIRE meeting on Monday, April 4 at 6:00 p.m. in Marlboro Electric’s Assembly Room. Other meetings will be on May 2, October 3, November 7, and December (TBA).
The meeting is open to all women who are co-op members, trustees and employees or the spouses of members, trustees and employees. Women Involved in Rural Electrification (WIRE) is a community outreach group and a statewide organization.