Aiken County Council unanimously agreed to approve the County's proposed $62.7 million budget with an additional 2.4 millage increase on its first vote Tuesday.
Council heard only the first reading of the fiscal year 2015-16 budget on Tuesday. The budget must now go through two more readings and a public hearing before Council can give its final approval.
Aiken County Administrator Clay Killian said County Council has worked "extremely hard" throughout the years to keep budget increases and taxes at a low. But this year, the cost of "doing business and items beyond your (Council) control continue to place strains on our resources," he said.
County officials are proposing a 2.4 millage rate increase to 72.3 mills from the current 69.9 mills, an increase that could bring in roughly $1.5 million to $1.6 million in revenue per year, according to officials.
A millage rate is the rate at which property taxes are charged based on property value. The increase would mean a $4 cost for every mill on a $100,000 valued home, and if approved, a homeowner would pay an additional $14.40 on a home valued at $150,000.
Council does not set the millage rate until September, and Council member Andrew Siders promised residents that between now and the final vote on the budget, Council will mull over "excess" expenses and duplicate budget items in the 2015-16 budget.
Council Chairman Ronnie Young took time to vent his frustration on the current legislation regarding the local government fund, a fund that helps local governments finance state-mandated agencies, such as the Department of Social Services and the Department of Health and Environmental Control.
In March, the House passed Charleston Republican Rep. Jim Merrill's proposed bill, H. 3374, with the Aiken County Legislative Delegation's House member's support, which would replace the initial formula for the local government fund, and local governments would receive an amount equal to the percentage increase in the state's general budget, capped at 5 percent. That funding would be based on budget projections, rather than the previous year's budget.
When the local government fund was initially conceived in 1991, the law required state lawmakers to provide 4.5 percent of the completed fiscal year's general fund revenue to be allocated into the fund for cities and counties. But since the recession hit in 2008, the law was suspended, causing many local governments, including Aiken County, to find funding elsewhere.
"That means that Aiken County will receive $2.15 million less than required by law, even though state revenues have increased by more than $400 million, plus an additional $150 million in potential surplus revenue," Killian said. "To put that in perspective, the lower local government fund amount, coupled with the smaller amount for ice storm cost reimbursement is approximately 6.3 mills of tax in Aiken County."
Unfortunately, Killian said, he does not "believe it is either possible or wise to continue to absorb that blow."
Killian said the 2015-16 budget was "largely defined" by two major events - the appropriation and "needed" salary adjustments for all County employees in fiscal year 2015 and the financial impact from the February 2014 ice storm.
"The expenses of dealing with that storm, as well as the reimbursements from the Federal Emergency Management Agency stretch back over the last two fiscal years and will have also have an impact on the next one," Killian said. "The storm struck in February of 2014 and we incurred a great deal of expense in the recovery during fiscal year 2014-14; however, we did not receive any reimbursement until fiscal year 2014-15, which skews the numbers for both fiscal years, and there is still some reimbursement to come in fiscal year 2015-16."
That and additional expenses, such as emergency work done on the Langley Dam, has taxed the County's reserve funds, Killian said. The County's capital reserve fund has dropped from around $5.4 million in 2011 to now $1.5 million, he said, and the general reserve fund currently stands at approximately $7.6 million, $10 million from what it was two years ago.
"Aiken County has experienced many positive changes in the just the past few years and County Council's stewardship has had a tremendous impact on keeping us moving forward," Killian said. "While unexpected events have placed a strain on our resources and have created some financial holes to fill, without the foresight in prior budgeting and financial management, the Council would have been in no position to manage those predicaments."
In other business:
- Council named seven Aiken County residents to make up the County's newly established litter task force.
- Council approved to apply and accept a nearly $67,000 Local Emergency Management Performance Grant from the S.C. Emergency Management Division. If accepted, the grant will be used for training and exercise programs for the emergency management communications network and for a hurricane emergency management workshop.
- Council agreed to execute a lease with Sara Brodie for rental space at 236 Beaufort St. for the S.C. Department of Probation, Pardons and Parole. The County will pay an annual rate of $36,000, or $3,000 per month, for the location. The lease will begin Aug. 1 and end July 31, 2020, with the option to renew for five years.
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.