Although the South Carolina House rejected ponying up to $10 million to cover 22 counties impacted by the February ice storm, S.C. Rep. Bill Hixon, R-North Augusta, says he was "promised" by both House representatives and the governor's office that help will come.
Standing beside several House members whose communities also were impacted by the February 2014 ice storm, Hixon proposed an amendment Wednesday to the 2015-2016 fiscal year budget to make up funding for those counties, including Aiken County, by pulling funds out of other departments to cover the expenses.
"Before, I had talked to the governor's office and was told there was nothing in her (2015-2016) budget, and then I had talked to the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and they didn't put it in their budget, so I said I needed to do something," Hixon said. "I drafted the amendment and asked for $10 million, and I wanted it from the Department of Administration."
Hixon said the department had a $98 million increase in its 2015-2016 budget, and thought they "ought to be able to spare $10 million to help counties."
When Hixon stepped to the floor Wednesday, he asked for any other members to stand with him if they too were impacted by the storm.
"They all got up and stood next to me - it was awesome," Hixon said. "That's never been done before, and it really showed we had a ton of support."
Opponents of the amendment said Wednesday the proposal threw the budget out of balance and rather than reflecting actual costs, it reflected estimated costs, according to the Associated Press.
Although it's been a little more than a year since Winter Storm Pax dropped more than one inch of ice onto Aiken County, conversations have continued to brew in local government about the lack of a state match for ice storm emergency and recovery expenses. Aiken County spent a total of about $33.2 million to pick up more than 1 million cubic yards of debris, clean up debris and enact recovery and emergency services after the ice storm, according to County Administrator Clay Killian.
To date, the County has received federal reimbursement of nearly $22 million out of the expected $27 million from FEMA. That now leaves the County paying about $6.1 million out of pocket. The City of Aiken spent a little more than $2 million, and today has received just about $1.8 million, Assistant City Manager Stuart Bedenbaugh told the Aiken Standard.
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley asked the General Assembly last May to send counties about $16 million. That allocation never made it into the current budget. Haley's Press Secretary Chaney Adams told the Aiken Standard earlier this week that the governor would, however, support matching storm expenses in the upcoming budget.
Hixon said the budget likely will be passed over to the Senate soon, allowing the House to have time to work on final numbers.
Maayan Schechter is the local government reporter with Aiken Standard. An Atlanta native, she has a mass communications-journalism degree with the University of North Carolina Asheville. Follow her on Twitter @MaayanSchechter.
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