South Carolina began the process of creating a municipal association to promote effective local government through advocacy and education in February 1926, when officials from 18 cities and towns met at the Jefferson Hotel in Columbia — at the invitation of Greenville Mayor R.F. Watson and Anderson Mayor Foster Fant — to take the initial steps towards the founding of a municipal association, a cooperative organization focused on pooling knowledge and effort to meet the challenges of the era. 

A similar process was playing out in dozens of other states during this era, a tumultuous time of strong population and economic growth that illustrated a need for well-run municipal governments. South Carolina’s population at the time of the Association’s founding was 1.7 million — an amount that has more than tripled in the near-century since. 

At a February 26, 1930, meeting at the Jefferson Hotel, officials voted to establish the Municipal Association of South Carolina, with a mission “to promote matters pertaining to the welfare and development of the various municipalities of the state.” 

Greenville Mayor A.C. Mann won election as the new Association’s first president. In 1939, 75 officials representing 32 municipalities voted to hire a full-time executive director and obtain office space. 

On January 1, 1940, James N. Caldwell Jr. began work as the Association’s first executive director, operating out of the organization’s original office on the campus of the University of South Carolina, at 1214 College St. In 1942, the Association’s membership stood at 132 cities and towns in South Carolina, and by 1949, all 235 municipalities then incorporated had become members. 

During the 1940s, the Association’s sole mission was lobbying at the State House for municipal governments. Leaders met at least annually and identified priorities for working with state lawmakers, although topics even early on could go well beyond this. The Association’s meeting in 1942, taking place at the height of World War II, featured New York City Mayor Fiorella LaGuardia, director of the National Civilian Defense Program, speaking on the role of cities and towns in supporting wartime industrial production and civilian preparedness. 

Local officials’ top issues in this era included access to alternative sources of revenue, high insurance rates and taxes. Association members studied the possibility of establishing funds for self-insurance and pursued a fair tax on liquor, beer and wine to relieve the burden on the property tax.

In the 1950s, the Municipal Association successfully advocated for legislation allowing municipalities to share in the motor transport fee and a larger share of the beer, wine and liquor tax. Mayor William Morrison of Charleston challenged local leaders to recognize that industry had turned its attention to the South, and “we must grab this pace of industry by the forelock!” 

Other issues included modernizing annexation laws, encouraging regional planning, obtaining Social Security and state retirement for municipal employees, and passing planning enabling legislation.

The Association of this time was one of the few statewide associations with a full-time staff, including an executive director, assistant director, legislative counsel and three clerks. At the 1956 Annual Meeting, Camden Mayor and Association President Henry Savage Jr. lauded the organization for its expansion “to a many-faceted educational and service organization.” 

The Association began publishing its first news magazine, South Carolina City, in 1959. It also offered services such as collecting delinquent taxes from insurance companies and offering municipal employees group life insurance. Delegates from South Carolina were active in the American Municipal Association — the predecessor to the National League of Cities — as well as the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Association Executive Director Jim Caldwell Jr. died in 1960. Caldwell had built a strong organization that was well respected by member cities and the General Assembly. His son, Jim Caldwell III, who had served as the deputy executive director, was promoted to executive director. In 1962, the Association moved to its second home, the Columbia Building, located on Main Street directly across from the State House.

The Association touted such legislative successes as approval of significant changes to annexation laws, permanent funding for the University of South Carolina Bureau of Research and Services, and creation of a state planning agency within the State Development Board. 

The 1968 formation of the SC Association of Counties brought more support for local government to the State House. Research, information, publications and training were the top goals for the Association, which continued to have 100% membership with the 257 cities and towns that were incorporated at the time. 

In the 1970s, the Association worked with other groups interested in responsive local government to push for the Home Rule amendments to Article VIII of the state constitution. At the same time, the Association supported the Nixon Administration in its push for general revenue sharing. Passed in 1972, the federal revenue sharing sent billions of unencumbered dollars for cities to use in meeting the growing demands of their citizens.

Gov. John West addressed the delegates at the Annual Meeting in 1972, noting that South Carolina was the first state to submit a plan under the new Emergency Employment Fund. The fund was a federal stimulus plan for the early 1970s that required the state, counties and cities to agree on how to split the money. Gov. West reported that “we have a spirit of teamwork and cooperation that is unequaled in any other state in the nation.”

Executive Director Jim Caldwell III stepped down from the role in 1973, and J. McDonald Wray, a onetime city manager for Beaufort, became the Association’s third executive director. 

When voters approved a home rule amendment to the South Carolina constitution in 1972 and the Home Rule Act became law in 1975, the Municipal Association actively promoted legislation to implement its principles. Better annexation laws and more fiscal autonomy were left out of the legislation because of opposition from utilities and business groups. Fighting against double taxation and fighting for alternate revenue sources became part of the Association’s legislative agenda. 

In 1975, the Association moved to its third headquarters at 1213 Lady St. in Columbia. The year saw the Association’s first-ever Winter Meeting at the beginning of the state’s legislative session, which in later years would become known as Hometown Legislative Action Day. 

Also in 1975, the Association transitioned its quarterly South Carolina Cities publication with the monthly Uptown to continue providing valuable information and education to municipal officials. 

In the 1980s, the Municipal Association worked with the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations to find alternative sources of revenue for municipal government. The Federal General Revenue Sharing Act of 1972, which had sent $85 billion to state and local governments, was repealed in 1986. Government leaders forecasted the need for other sources of revenue to reduce the burden on the homeowner.

The Association supported a series of legislative bills to broaden revenue options for municipalities. In 1984, the General Assembly passed a statewide accommodations tax. and added tax increment financing as a tool for economic development. Negotiations began on a local option sales tax to give an additional source of revenue for local government and reduce property taxes. The legislation stalled in conference committee as the decade ended.

During this time, cities and towns in South Carolina learned the benefit of collaborating under the umbrella of the Municipal Association. Pooled insurance programs through the Local Government Assurance Group for health coverage and the South Carolina Municipal Insurance Trust for workers compensation coverage gave municipalities more direct control over their insurance needs. Legislators amended the Setoff Debt Collection Act to allow municipal government participation.

Numerous new affiliate associations, all aimed at helping with the training and networking needs of specific municipal job positions, came into existence during this era and began affiliating with the Municipal Association. In 1980, the group that is now the SC Municipal Human Resources Association established itself. 

1983 saw the founding of the South Carolina Downtown Development Association, a nonprofit supporting the development and redevelopment of downtown areas through the Main Street America program, with Ben Boozer as its longtime executive director. SCDDA first partnered with the Municipal Association in 1987, and has since evolved into Main Street South Carolina. 

In 1985, the Association signed a memorandum of agreement with the SC Association of Municipal Power Systems to provide staff support. This organization is now known as Palmetto Power Cities, a group focused on mutual aid during times of disaster, as well as legislative initiatives and training. Mutual aid would become a major issue for the state just four years later, when the historically destructive Hurricane Hugo left a path of devastation from Charleston to Rock Hill. The Association played an important role in its aftermath as the clearinghouse for mutual aid requests for cities and municipal power systems. 

Other affiliate groups to stand up in this decade included the SC Business Licensing Officials Association in 1986, the SC Utility Billing Association in 1987 and the SC Community Development Association in 1988. 

The Association used technology pioneered by South Carolina ETV to broadcast by statewide closed-circuit television a training program series, “Leadership in the 80s.” The Association founded the Municipal Elected Officials Institute of Government in 1986, which would become a signature program helping elected officials understand key aspects of governance, public accountability, legal compliance as well as community growth and development. The MEO Institute would graduate thousands of mayors and councilmembers in the decades to come. A year later in 1987, the Association conferred its first-ever Municipal Achievement Awards, a program recognizing innovation and excellence in local government, and illustrating for residents the value of municipal government. 

In 1981, the Association moved to its fourth headquarters, a building it purchased at 1529 Washington St. in Columbia. It would pay off this mortgage in 1988. 

In 1990, the General Assembly passed the Local Option Sales Tax legislation, a priority for the Association and the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations. The Association led the campaign as all 46 counties voted on the LOST in the 1990 November elections. Six counties passed the referendum and began collecting a penny sales tax for property tax reduction and a new revenue source for local government.

Debate over the fiscal authority of local government in South Carolina under Home Rule continued until the passage of the Local Government Fiscal Authority Act of 1997. Although the Act restricted local government from new taxes without expressed approval of the legislature, it also established the local hospitality tax, the local accommodations tax and the capital project local option sales tax.

The 1996 federal legislation deregulating the telecommunication industry led to a consolidated effort by the telecommunication industry in South Carolina to prevent municipal control over expanding use of the right of way. The Telecommunication Act of 1999 changed the revenue source from the traditional franchise on companies using the public right-of-way to a business license tax on all retail communications.

The Association continued the concept of pooled risk to control insurance cost and service by forming the South Carolina Municipal Insurance and Risk Financing Fund in 1990. SCMIRF joined the Association’s other insurance pools to offer complete insurance protection for municipalities.

Following on the success of the Setoff Debt Program, the Association expanded in 1992 what are now known as its Local Revenue Services programs. At that time, it added the Insurance Tax Program. In 1998, the Association added the Telecommunications Tax Program. These programs proved an effective way for cities and towns to work together under the Association to more efficiently collect these taxes.

Two new Municipal Association affiliate groups came into existence in the 1990s — the SC Municipal Finance Officers, Clerks and Treasurers Association in 1990, and the SC Municipal Attorneys Association in 1995. 

The growth of the Association’s staff to support all of these new services led the board of directors to authorize a search for a larger building. The Association and two of the insurance pools, SCMIT and SCMIRF, formed Gervais Street Associates to build a new facility. The Association moved into 1411 Gervais St. in November 1999. Municipal officials were pleased with the new presence a block and a half away from the State House.

The Association transitioned to its fourth executive director in 1992. Howard Duvall, previously the director of intergovernmental relations and a former mayor of Cheraw, became executive director upon the retirement of Don Wray.

2000 saw South Carolina’s first major change in annexation laws since 1988. The petition and election method of annexation was changed to comply with federal court decisions and reinstated as an annexation alternative. Other tools for the municipal toolbox followed with amendments to the Municipal Improvement Districts Act in 2000 to allow for business improvement districts, the Textile Community Revitalization Act in 2004, and the Retail Facilities Revitalization Act in 2005.

Debate over private property rights versus protecting the public through good land use planning consumed several legislative sessions. The debate subsided after enactment of the Vested Rights Act of 2003, which protects developers and requires training and certification of those involved in land-use planning, including staff and board or commission appointees. The Association offers an online, six-hour orientation course that fulfills the requirement. This legislation was complemented by the Priority Investment Act of 2007, which requires notification and coordination of government actions affecting land use decisions.

Taxes continued to be an important topic of public policy debate. The 2000s began with a reduction in the assessment rate for automobiles from 10.5% to 6%. The rate declined 0.75% each year from 2001 to 2008. 

In 2006, the state passed Act 388, which established hard caps on millage increases by municipalities, a sales tax to replace school operating millage and caps on increases in appraised value of property. Act 388 has had many far-reaching consequences for school and local government revenue, with many municipalities searching for ways to provide essential services with legislative caps in place. 

The Municipal Association umbrella for affiliate associations spread wider in the 2000s. New groups included the South Carolina Association of Stormwater Managers in 2001, the Municipal Technology Association of SC in 2004, and the Municipal Court Administration Association of SC in 2006.

In 2005, the SC Downtown Development Association formally became Main Street South Carolina, a downtown development technical assistance program of the Municipal Association of South Carolina. Main Street SC is a coordinating partner of Main Street America. 

Another major technical assistance milestone came in 2008, when the Association established the Field Services program. Its Field Services managers routinely travel around to all of the municipalities in their assigned portion of the state, visiting officials and helping address issues and challenges of local concern. 

In 2008, the board promoted veteran Association employee, Miriam Hair, to the position of executive director upon the retirement of Howard Duvall. Hair, previously the deputy executive director and had at that time served the Association for 23 years, became the fifth executive director of the Municipal Association. 

2011 saw continued debate over a point-of-sale bill, intended as a fix to the changes that Act 388 of 2006 created for the way municipal governments could raise revenue. The Association worked to achieve a compromise that fixed the reassessment rollback calculation to include a nonpayment provision and continued to give local governments the authority to put property on the tax rolls at full-market value when property is sold. The law also allows a “look-back” period of three years. Councils that did not impose the millage increase allowed by Act 388 during the previous three years may impose that increase in addition to their current-year allowance. 

In 2013, the General Assembly passed the Abandoned Buildings Revitalization Act, capping an effort by the Association to empower cities and towns in their efforts to prevent and address blighted property. The law gave cities a new economic development tool — tax credits on income or property — to incentivize private investment in downtowns for the “rehabilitation, renovation and redevelopment” of empty storefronts.

After hearing from cities about their difficulty collecting taxes from property owners who offered lodging over the internet on platforms such as AirBnB and Vrbo, the Association successfully urged lawmakers to pass the Fairness in Lodging Act in 2014. The law gave cities additional enforcement authority over the local accommodations tax in an effort to identify property owners who did not submit the state and local accommodations taxes appropriately after renting out their properties for short-term periods.

The Association was also involved in the debates over regulation for online ride-sharing platforms, such as Uber and Lyft, advocating for the right of either municipalities to levy a business license tax against such entities, or for the state to collect on behalf of municipalities and counties a local assessment sufficient to account for the business license tax that would have otherwise been assessed. The Association negotiated a favorable outcome for municipalities, with the first audit of transportation network companies operating in South Carolina was initiated in 2017 by the Association under the bill it helped pass in 2015.

In 2017, the General Assembly passed sweeping changes to the SC Freedom of Information Act and SC Family Privacy Protection Act. Over two years, the Association collaborated with stakeholder organizations such as the SC Press Association, the SC Law Enforcement Division, SC Sheriff’s Association, SC Association of Counties and the SC School Board Association to mold the legislation into something beneficial to both the public and public bodies that serve them — increasing transparency and the public’s access to public records while also giving public officials tools to alleviate strains on public resources created by unduly burdensome, broad or repetitive requests.

Plenty of progress was unfolding outside the State House, too. In 2011, the Association of South Carolina Mayors was established, following a vote of more than 60 mayors at the Association’s Annual Meeting. ASCM offered mayors a new way to advocate for strong cities, learn from each other’s challenges and share best practices. 

The Association debuted its first credited, on-demand course in 2013, "Municipal Economic Development," as part of the Municipal Elected Officials Institute of Government. It was the first of the core courses to be offered online, intended to provide a time-efficient, flexible alternative to the sessions offered at councils of governments’ locations around the state. Other online, on-demand training now offered by the Association include the free courses “The Five Basics of Effective Governing,” and municipal clerk training. 

In 2014, municipal officials enrolled in the first courses of the Advanced Municipal Elected Officials Institute of Government, which provides continuing training to MEO Institute graduates. In 2019, the MEO Institute would add yet another new offering: Advanced Continuing Education, which provides the Association’s top level of graduates with a pathway to stay current on the latest issues in local government.

The Association began awarding its Hometown Economic Development Grants in 2016 to cities and towns. After many years of or helping cities achieve valuable and replicable projects affecting quality of life in their communities, this program would in 2025 evolve into the IMPACT Fund, supported by the Association’s strategic partner for technology services, VC3. Each year the IMPACT Fund awards several Problem Solver Grants of $25,000 each to fund smaller and more routine municipal projects, as well as two Big Idea Grants of $100,000 each, designed to fund bold, creative and forward-thinking ideas.

Miriam Hair, the Association’s fifth executive director, retired in 2017 after 32 years with the Association. She was followed by Wayne George, a longtime mayor of Mullins and two-term representative in the General Assembly, who served as executive director from 2018 ­to 2019. George was followed by Todd Glover as the Association’s seventh executive director. He entered the position after serving as city administrator of North Augusta, assistant county administrator for Aiken County, and management services director for Columbia County, Georgia. 

2020 brought the public health emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the many societal disruptions and local governance challenges that came with it. Throughout this time, the Association worked to provide a variety of publications, videocasts, virtual meetings and other resources to help cities and towns with the many local governance challenges brought on by the need to practice social distancing in all aspects of public life. 

The passage of Act 176, the SC Business License Standardization Act, came as a major legislative win for cities and towns in 2020, as the law preserved the important municipal revenue source of business license taxes while creating uniform statewide practices of business licensing administration. The Association took compliance on as a major project, developing large amounts of informational resources and training sessions, and dedicating staff members as standardization liaisons for specific cities. These staff liaisons worked directly with cities to manage changes to licensing practices and data made necessary by the law’s 2022 effective date. Association staff helped 223 municipalities and counties in rebalancing their business license rates to comply with the law’s revenue neutrality requirements. As required by the law, the Association developed the Local Business License Renewal Center, launching it in 2022. This system allows all South Carolina businesses to renew licenses with every city, town and county with which they are licensed in the state.

In the 2020s, the Association’s Advocacy team sharpened its focus on engaging with Congressional lawmakers, including South Carolina’s delegation in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate. Leaders from the Association’s board of directors and staff began regular visits to Washington, D.C., to meet with representatives, senators and their staff; and the Association also began scheduling Congressional briefings in South Carolina’s individual districts for local leaders to connect with their delegations. 

Responding to a growing culture of incivility and anger in the public sphere, and one which was leading to many elected officials walking away from public service, the Association’s board of directors launched an ongoing campaign to promote civility in local government, helping to make public discourse courteous, respectful and ultimately effective. Executive Director Todd Glover frequently advocated for this issue in meetings and presentations, noting that “in South Carolina, we pride ourselves on being neighborly — waving at folks we pass, listening before we speak, and finding common ground even when we disagree. That spirit is what binds our towns together and it’s what we must protect.” 

A key element of the campaign is the Civility Pledge, designed to be used at the beginning of public meetings — “I pledge to build a stronger and more prosperous community by advocating for civil engagement, respecting others and their viewpoints, and finding solutions for the betterment of my city or town.”

Dozens of city and town councils across the state adopted this pledge for the council meetings, and it has spread to numerous other states and internationally as well. The Association also partnered with the SC School Boards Association to extend it to their members.

Other major new programs of the Association included the launch of the City Connect Market in 2021, which allows cities to take advantage of volume discounts on purchases. The program operates on the principle of cooperative purchasing, in which centralized staff obtains bids and coordinates purchases for local governments across the country, which results in better pricing and efficiency.

In 2023, the Association added the Small Cities Summit as a statewide meeting of local leaders, joining the Annual Meeting and Hometown Legislative Action Day. It is geared toward the specific needs and challenges of the many cities in South Carolina with populations below 3,000.

In another 2023 addition, the Association, in partnership with Main Street SC, launched WeShopSC.com, the state’s only online marketplace of small businesses. The web platform supports small business owners, whether they are technology-savvy or struggling to establish an online presence.