By Paul Gable
Horry County Solid Waste Authority officials were singing the blues at a pre-budget workshop earlier this week claiming a loss of $400,000 in revenue next fiscal year because of the elimination of construction and demolition debris from county flow control regulations.
Truth and reality rarely are factors at the HCSWA Hwy 90 headquarters and they are quickly removed if they are. There is nothing to base this $400,000 assumed loss of revenue on, but it’s being put out for media consumption.
And some media outlets in the county will play directly into the hands of HCSWA officials by spreading it.
Look back just two months and you will see HCSWA estimates of revenue loss, due to the amendment of flow control regulations, were in the $920,000 per year range. Now assumed revenue loss has been cut 57% but HCSWA officials are still in their gloom and doom mode.
For most of its 23 years of existence, a succession of HCSWA officials have “cried wolf” about lack of guaranteed revenue and the impending downfall of the agency.
During that time, the HCSWA, an alleged non-profit agency, has amassed $37 million in cash in the bank and approximately 1,500 additional acres of county land, paid for in cash. There is no bonded indebtedness at the HCSWA.
Remember, $6.5 million in revenue to the HCSWA every year comes directly from county tax millage in the unincorporated areas of Horry County.
The HCSWA coffers continue to grow on the backs of the taxpayers of the county even though the HCSWA wastes money every year on such things as land purchases, lobbyists, lawyers, consultants, advertising (what does a garbage dump need to advertise for?) and the like.
If the HCSWA does lose some revenue from amendments to flow control, all it has to do is cut its wasteful spending and its excess cash will continue to rise.
There is no potential revenue crisis on Hwy 90. The HCSWA continues to run amok. Only the taxpayers are getting screwed.
Speak Up…