Politics

HCGOP Hears Details on Horry County Schools Building Projects

Four members of the Horry County Schools Board of Education were present at a special meeting of the Horry County Republican Party last week to provide information on the recent awarding of five contracts to First Floor Energy Positive for new, energy positive schools.

This is an issue that still resonates in local media because First Floor Energy Positive had the highest total cost for their proposals for the five schools.

What seems to be missing from the local conversation is that the process used to select First Floor Energy Positive focused on building energy positive schools. This means energy savings in future years must be factored into the equation.

Will there be significant energy savings? There have been from schools built by First Floor in North Carolina.

Several days after the meeting, I heard an interview with HCGOP member who, several times, referred to the contracts going to the “highest bid.”

First of all, these were not bids, they were proposals.

Later in the interview, it was correctly stated that the school board basically got three conceptual proposals that were presented by the three finalist contractors. He correctly stated that the three contractors were not bidding on a design submitted by the school district.

These are key points that have been missed often in the ongoing discussion about these contract awards.

These were not design-bid-build contracts where the school district develops a design that is then bid on with the contract generally going to the lowest bidder.

These were design-build proposals that were developed by the individual contractors within overall specifications and requirements of the school district.

Several members of the selection committee for HCS said First Floor Energy Positive was the only one of the three finalist contractors to meet all of the requirements in their designs.

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SC Senate Committee Approves Gas Tax Hike

The SC Senate Finance Committee voted 14-8 this week to approve a 12 cents per gallon gas tax hike for next year’s budget.

This move was part of an overall vote to replace a SC House road repair plan, approved last year, with one written by the Senate. The House plan approved a 10 cents per gallon gas tax increase.

The Senate plan includes more revenue raising proposals including an increase in driver’s license fees, an increase to a maximum cap of $600 sales tax on a vehicle, up from the current $300. Also included were additional fees on hybrid and electrical vehicles.

The House plan provided for a small cut of state income tax while the Senate plan provides for no tax cuts.

If the Senate plan gains approval from the full Senate, it will have to go back to the House for approval. However, several senators have already placed the plan on the contested calendar meaning the full Senate will have to vote to bring the bill before the full body.

Additionally, if Gov. Nikki Haley sticks to her word, she will veto the plan, if it ultimately passes both houses, because no offsetting tax cuts are included.

It is interesting to note, Senate proponents of the plan are already broadcasting how much of the tax will be paid by non-SC residents. The current estimate is 30%.

This is always an interesting argument that proponents of tax hikes always use to make the tax more palatable for their non-thinking constituents. Tell them how much will be paid by tourists or other outside groups.

What is never mentioned is South Carolina residents will be paying 100% of the tax year around. What percentage of gross revenues may come from tourists or others traveling through the state is really not a consideration for the South Carolina citizens who will be paying the increased tax all the time.

This debate will only become more interesting as the legislative year progresses.

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Skydive Myrtle Beach FOIA Deadline Passes

The deadline for the Federal Aviation Administration to provide Skydive Myrtle Beach with copies of the alleged 112 investigated safety complaints against the company passed yesterday with silence.

The FAA issued a 73 page report, allegedly based on the safety violation documentation from Horry County Department of Airports. Horry County officials used the FAA report to shut down operations of Skydive Myrtle Beach at the Grand Strand Airport.

Skydive Myrtle Beach initially sought to get the documentation on the alleged safety violation reports through an FOIA request to Horry County. The response from Horry County attorney Arrigo Carotti was that the only information the county had was the 73 page FAA report.

According to Horry County officials, none of the underlying documentation, upon which the report was allegedly based, was available from the county, the governmental agency that supposedly documented the 112 safety violations in the first place.

Beginning last August, Skydive Myrtle Beach sent an FOIA request to the FAA for all documentation related to the 112 safety violations and any other documentation used to generate the 73 page FAA report.

The FAA denied the first FOIA request in October 2015 stating the request was too broad. A second FOIA request was sent by Skydive Myrtle Beach to the FAA, which was accepted.

The following FOIA status report was sent by email from Duke Taylor of the FAA to Skydive Myrtle Beach owner Aaron Holly on January 21, 2016:

“On Jan 21, 2016, at 3:49 PM, [email protected] wrote:

“Mr. Holly by statute your response is due February 2, 2016.

“At this time our tracking system shows the status as Search and Review.

D”

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Mike Roberts Seeking Horry County Council District Seven Seat

Lifelong Conway resident Mike Roberts announced last week that he was a Republican candidate for the open Horry County Council District Seven seat.

Roberts was the Republican nominee for the District Seven seat in 2014. After winning the Republican primary, Roberts lost to longtime Democratic council member James Frazier in the 2014 general election. With Frazier’s retirement from the position on March 1, 2014, Roberts is again seeking to represent the citizens of District Seven.

Keeping taxes low will be the number one priority for Roberts if he is elected to county council.

“Government is too quick to raise taxes when it faces some kind of problem,” Roberts said. “We must first look to cut needless spending so we can keep taxes low.”

Horry County Council passed the largest property tax increase in history last summer by a 6-5 vote margin. Frazier voted with the slim majority to raise taxes.

It is safe to say, if Roberts had been the victor in 2014, the tax increase would not have passed.

“I would not have voted for it,” Roberts said. “County council passed first reading of the budget with no tax increase. By second reading, we supposedly needed the largest tax increase in history. Nothing changed except the politics.”

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First Education Reform Bills in SC House

Eight bills were introduced into the SC House this week in what was called part of the first phase of the House Education Reform Package.

On first glance, it seems House education reform means more bureaucracy.

One proposal calls for the establishment of an authority that could borrow money on the state’s behalf to spend on school facilities. This is seen as a means for school districts with low tax bases to obtain money to repair deteriorating school buildings.

Another bill calls for recreating the Education and Economic Development Coordinating Council in an effort to “ensure our students are college and career ready.”

This goes along with a bill that would redefine the expectations of a South Carolina high school graduate. Sounds like the “minimally adequate education” that is now called for in state law is no longer good enough.

The bill that bothers me the most is H. 4777 that would allow the state to take over a school district that is failing financially. This has been tried in other states with minimal success at best.

I could be wrong, but these proposals sound like centralization of decision making, centralization of goals and centralization of new financial resources.

Historically, the SC General Assembly has sought to keep as much power and control in its hands as possible while giving only lip service to smaller government and home rule.

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Gasoline Taxes and Roads on Tap in Columbia

An increase in the gasoline tax is part of the SC General Assembly debate on road funding and tax considerations this week.

This debate will potentially be the one that affects taxpayers the most in the coming years.

One thing I believe you can count on is that before this debate is finished and by the time next year’s budget kicks in, gasoline taxes in the state will have been increased.

South Carolina’s current 16.75 cents per gallon tax on gasoline is one of the lowest in the nation. Last year, the SC House passed a proposal to increase that tax by 10 cents per gallon.

The SC Senate Finance Committee is currently considering a proposal to increase the gasoline tax by 12 cents per gallon.

When both Houses of the legislature are considering a tax increase, it’s a pretty good bet one will be forthcoming.

Additionally, with gasoline prices as low as they’ve been in 10 years, this is the perfect time to raise gasoline taxes because consumers have been accustomed to paying much more than the $1.60 or so per gallon currently charged at the pumps.

Along with the gasoline tax debate are proposals to reduce the state’s income tax.

This ploy was introduced by Gov. Nikki Haley last year and the legislature has picked up on it.

If you can get the taxpayers concentrating on how much they could save in reduced income taxes, maybe they won’t notice, or at least oppose, a gas tax increase.

Haley’s proposal last year even went so far as to call the increased gas tax combined with the reduced income tax “revenue neutral.”

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James Frazier Resignation Stills Questions

The resignation letter submitted by Horry County Council member James Frazier last week stilled questions that have been making the rounds lately.

Frazier is the record holder for service on county council having been the representative for Horry County District Seven since the county established single member districts. He has represented the citizens of District Seven for 35 consecutive years.

Recently, however, Frazier became notable for his absences, having not attended a council meeting since September 2015.

State law provides that three straight unexcused absences, by elected or appointed officials, create an automatic vacancy in the seat they hold. The law further provides that the chairman of the council, board, commission or committee the absent member sits on is required to immediately notify the governor of the vacancy.

This was not done in Horry County. Frazier missed six straight council meetings beginning in October 2015, but no notification to the governor was given. While Frazier was absent due to medical conditions, numerous sources agreed they were conditions from which he would not recover.

This is not about individuals or their service. The law is in place to assure continued representation to the citizens affected by these absences.

Frazier’s letter makes his resignation from his seat on council effective March 1, 2016. It could be argued, according to a strict interpretation of state law, a vacancy has existed in the District Seven seat since November 2015.

James Frazier served the county long and honorably for 35 years, a record not in danger of being broken. Like many athletes and politicians, he probably stayed a bit too long, but knowing when to quit is often difficult for the person involved.

Below is a Public Servant profile featuring Frazier that I did for Carolina Weekly several years ago:

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I&R Committee Hears Charleston Recyclable Update

The Horry County Infrastructure and Regulation Committee heard an update on the Charleston recyclable deal yesterday.

As with any new operation, several months of experience is needed to determine if projections in the deal are becoming reality.

With five months of solid numbers now in place, it is possible to look at what Horry County residents can and cannot expect from the Charleston deal.

First and foremost, the HCSWA can forget any expectations of making a $1 million dollar per year profit on the contract that brings recyclables from Charleston County to Horry County for processing.

When Horry County Council reconsidered second reading of a budget amendment needed to approve the deal, council member Harold Worley asked if this deal would make money. HCSWA officials answered yes.

Not realizing too much of a loss will be considered a good result.

There are several reasons for this. The assumption of 14.5% reject rate of recyclables processed is much too low. The reject rate has been in the mid to high 20’s range and that is with the best interpretation of exactly what constitutes rejects.

For example, the months of Aug through Dec 2015 saw 21,382 tons of recyclables processed at the HCSWA. Of that amount, 13,192 tons of recyclables have been sold, leaving 8,190 tons not sold.

The HCSWA does not consider all of the 8,190 tons as rejects. Some is glass that is ground up and sold at $5 per ton by the HCSWA. In December, approximately 200 tons of glass was processed, according to the HCSWA. Another 600 tons remained processed on the floor waiting to be shipped out.

You get the idea, assuming only 14.5% rejects was a pipe dream.

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SC General Assembly Bolsheviks?

It didn’t take long for ‘stupid’ to raise its head in the current legislative session of the SC General Assembly.
Yesterday state Rep. Mike Pitts (R-Laurens) introduced a bill to clamp down on the media in the state.

Called the “South Carolina Responsible Journalism Registry Law”, Pitts proposes to set requirements for journalists working in the media, including registration requirements with the Office of the Secretary of State and fee payments.

Even Pitts acknowledges his bill stands no chance of passing (it is unconstitutional as well as being plain stupid). But, such is the way of the General Assembly in most years.

According to reports, Pitts told one media outlet his bill is meant to stimulate discussion of how the Second Amendment is treated in the press (according to Pitts’ interpretation of articles at least.)

If I get this right, we have a South Carolina lawmaker who wishes to violate the First Amendment, “Congress shall make no law…abridging freedom of speech or of the press,” in order to guarantee the Second Amendment is not criticized.

That’s virtually straight out of Lenin and his Bolshevik revolution – grab control of the press so you control the message and eliminate all opposition to your political views.

I seriously doubt there is a nascent Communist Party rearing its head in Columbia, but ‘one never knows do one?’

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Charleston Contract Costing HCSWA

The contract between Charleston County and the Horry County Solid Waste Authority for the HCSWA to process Charleston County recyclables is costing Horry County money.

With five months (Aug thru Dec) of solid numbers behind us, the HCSWA has lost approximately $130,000 processing Charleston County recyclables.

When the HCSWA entered into the contract with Charleston County, it was estimated the contract would bring a profit of approximately $1 million per year. That certainly does not seem to be the case with revenues from sale of recyclables over those five months totaling approximately $1.860 million and expenses totaling approximately $1.990 million.

The only thing saving the HCSWA from even greater losses was a three month amendment to the contract, which allows Horry County to not pay Charleston County for transportation costs related to bringing the Charleston County recyclables to Horry County.

The contract calls for Horry County to pay Charleston County $425 per truckload of recyclables shipped from Charleston County. These payments have been suspended for December through February. The suspension allowed the HCSWA to realize a modest $20,000 profit in December.

Several other line items are puzzling from the HCSWA’s latest report. Expenses associated with Charleston recyclables are less than expenses associated with Horry County recyclables. However, Charleston County recyclables are approximately double the amount of Horry County recyclables.

Additionally, a total of 21,382 tons of recyclables have been processed in the five months while only 13,192 tons have been sold. This leaves 8,190 tons of recyclables unsold.

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