Another South Carolina Town Missing Money?
By Paul Gable
We are hearing the town of Awendaw may be missing money from its public coffers as important bills are not being paid on time.
According to several sources who have contacted us, the town missed its required payment of approximately $270,000, due March 1st to Charleston County for fire service, and nobody’s giving any answers.
Money for the fire service payment comes from a special fire tax district that was set up by town voters to levy taxes, specifically for fire service.
However, payments due to Charleston County from the town of Awendaw have been in arrears for some years. See PDF file attached below.
When inquiries were made to find out about the late payment, vague references were made by town officials that the money ‘went into the water fee.’
According to our sources, there are other difficulties in tracking facts down as record keeping is less than adequate, with respect to town business, and town ordinances have yet to be codified into an easy-access system.
We also hear none of this is discussed in open session at council meetings. It’s always easier to go behind closed doors in executive session when such things occur.
While we have no idea what the real facts are at this point, the fact that the town missed an important payment to Charleston County, one that is funded with a special tax levy, certainly makes one curious.
Awendaw Documented Debt [PDF]
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