Author: Paul Gable

Mark Lazarus on Paying for Police Services

During a council workshop Tuesday, Horry County Council chairman Mark Lazarus warned of a future tax increase to pay for increased needs for police services.

“As we continue to grow, the issues at public safety are going to continue to grow,” said Lazarus. “We’re going to need more personnel and it’s going to grow at a faster pace than our income is growing.”

Lazarus directed staff to study the possibility of establishing a special tax district in the unincorporated areas of the county to fund the police department similar to the way Horry County fire department personnel and equipment are currently funded.

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HCSWA Waste Stream Study Planned

The Horry County Solid Waste Authority (HCSWA) is budgeting $50,000 net fiscal year to study the components in its waste stream.

The results of the study will be used as a basis for the HCSWA to issue either a request for qualifications or proposals from firms interested in helping save airspace at the HCSWA landfill on Hwy 90.

The more airspace that can be saved by diverting waste from being buried in the landfill, the longer the life of the landfill can be extended.

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Bureaucracy to prevail at expense of the taxpayer

S.C. General Assembly Continues Assault on Local Governments

This legislative session could go down in history as the one during which the S.C. General Assembly broke the banks of local governments.

The S.C. House passed H.3374 last week, permanently cutting the local government fund and removing any formula for its calculation in the future.

The LGF, or Local Government Revenue Sharing Fund as it will be called in the future, will be funded over the next two years at the same level it is funded in the current fiscal year budget, or approximately 30% below the level of funding required by state statute.

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Atlantic Beach Bikefest Plan Incomplete

Two months before the next Memorial Day weekend Atlantic Beach Bikefest and planning is still incomplete in what should be the most important planning areas.

Horry County Council heard a briefing on plans for the weekend from Horry County Emergency Management Department head Randy Webster at its regular meeting Tuesday night.

Included in Webster’s briefing were details such as 600 out-of-area law enforcement personnel will be on hand to help with weekend; magistrate courts will be open extra hours to keep the detainee population at J. Reuben Long Detention Center manageable and the traffic loop.

Sounds like a lot of arrests are planned.

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Jerry Merrithew Brings Unique Experience to Berkeley County Sheriff Race

As a young boy, Jerry Merrithew would accompany his grandfather to the state park at which his grandfather was superintendent.

“I met many different law enforcement officers and I would sit with them and listen to them talk of their experiences,” said Merrithew. “I gained a lot of respect for the work they did and decided I would like to pursue a law enforcement career.”

After graduating from Berkeley High School in 1980, Merrithew bided his time until he secured his first law enforcement position with the Harleyville Police Department in 1985.

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Bureaucracy to prevail at expense of the taxpayer

S.C. House to Vote on Local Government Fund

The S.C. House will vote on H.3374 this week, a bill that would severely restrict revenue for the local government fund.

State law, passed in 1991, requires the S.C. General Assembly to return 4.5% of last year’s state general fund revenue to local governments.

However, in many budget years, the S.C. General Assembly has passed a one-year exception to the law allowing it to send back to local governments less than the mandated 4.5%.

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A Lesson from the AvCraft Experience

The final curtain is coming down on AvCraft Technical Services in a couple of weeks leaving behind an important political lesson that will soon be forgotten.

That lesson? Never, never, never believe a politician’s (or their associates’) claims about economic development and/or job creation.

AvCraft was first introduced to Horry County in 2003 by, then, Horry County Council candidate Joe DeFeo.

AvCraft had just forfeited economic development incentive payments for failing to reach job creation promises at its location in Tyler, Texas and was looking for fresh government dollars. DeFeo was looking for an issue that could help him win election to Horry County Council District Three.

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Local Officials Look at HCSWA Waste Diversion

Recent discussions about waste stream diversion at the Horry County Solid Waste Authority (HCSWA) have spurred some local officials to look into the process.

One example is Aynor mayor Keb Johnson, who is also serving as chairman of the League of Cities this year.

The League of Cities membership is composed of the mayors from the eight incorporated municipalities in Horry County. The League of Cities nominates three members to the HCSWA board and is kept apprised of policies and other decisions of the HCSWA.

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Ethics Reform – Not So Fast

S.C. House Ethics Reform Bill Discourages Ethics Complaints

An Ethics Reform Bill, which flew through the S.C. House with only one dissenting vote in three readings, appears designed to discourage the filing of ethics complaints.

H. 3184 could put citizens at substantial risk, possibly facing both criminal and civil charges, depending on the whim of a newly constituted State Ethics Commission.

Called the Ethics Reform Act, the devil is again in the details of the legislation. The bill creates a new State Ethics Commission and ultimately grants investigation of ethics complaints against House or Senate members to that new body.

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S.C. House Intent on Road Transfer to Counties

It appears the S.C. House is fully intent on dumping approximately 50% of the current state road network onto the backs of the counties.

Reading into H.3579, the bill that has the most support among S.C. House members, the intent becomes quite apparent.

While it has been said repeatedly in the media that counties would have the option to accept the roads from the state, this isn’t quite true.

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