With little money coming in, the towns of Pine Ridge and Gaston still find enough to fund their own police departments. Neither town charges its residents a property tax. Both towns rely heavily on Lexington County for most services, including fire protection, emergency medical services and animal control. While garbage pickup is privatized in both towns, it costs less in Gaston. Gaston residents get their drinking water from a well system operated by the Gaston Rural Community Water District.
Sewer is scarce in both towns.
Both towns anticipate future growth. Pine Ridge officials say there are about 2,000 developable acres in the town's limits. Gaston officials say they have undeveloped land aplenty, but just how much is an unknown. Swansea and Pelion are the exception. Lucius Martin, Swansea's town administrator, said the property tax keeps the town from going bankrupt.