By Paul Gable
Horry County Council will vote tonight on third and final reading for next fiscal year’s budget, which begins July 1, 2024.
The general fund of the budget, approximately $270 million, pays for most of the goods and services provided by county government. Approximately 70% of the general fund pays for public safety services.
The SWA is a component unit of Horry County Government established by county ordinance 60-90. Its budget is included in the annual budget for the county and receives final approval from county council. The SWA bylaws and other rules must be approved by county council. SWA board members must be approved by county council.
When the SWA was created, it was specifically mandated by council, in Ordinance 60-90, to find alternative means of disposing county garbage rather than maintaining an ever-increasing landfill next to Sterritt Swamp. Instead, the SWA has done the exact opposite, continually expanding the landfill area in what is identified as an environmentally sensitive area in Ord. 60-90.
The SWA is supposed to operate as an Enterprise Fund generating its own revenue and paying its expenses out of that revenue. As an enterprise fund, the SWA is supposed to operate within its own budget.
However, each year, the SWA is required to submit a “Letter of Financial Assurance” to SC DHEC to certify that the authority has sufficient closure and post-closure funds at hand if the landfill, or any part, were to be immediately closed. In order to conform to the DHEC formula, which exempts public landfills from the need for purchasing bonds or insurance for such an eventuality, the SWA includes the county government general fund revenue as a source of funds that can be drawn on if necessary.
Should such a contingency arise, forcing immediate need for closure and post-closure funds, the county’s general fund budget would have a serious shortfall in funds needed to provide goods and services, including public safety services, to the citizens.
County council members I have questioned have no recollection of ever voting approval for the SWA to pledge the county government general fund revenue as a source of funds for closure and post-closure costs. The SWA is run by an Executive Director and a seven-member Board of Directors, none of whom are elected officials.
This raises the question – By what authority are unelected officials at the SWA pledging county tax dollars to DHEC? Only elected county council members can approve the use of general fund dollars.
And, by continually expanding the landfill, the SWA is potentially increasing the risk to the county general fund. It’s time for county council to take control of this situation.
Speak Up…