Aiken County Council tabled their second vote on the 2015-16 budget Tuesday night, leaving the County without a complete budget with three weeks until the next fiscal year begins on July 1.
The $62.7 million budget has already been mulled through several times in budget work sessions, but on Tuesday, Council members solicited comments from the public and proposed even more cuts to the budget's general fund, so as to avoid raising property taxes.
Only two residents stood to speak out against raising property taxes in the County; that included former County Council member Gary Bunker, who said he applauds Council's efforts to avoid a millage increase.
Although it appears unlikely Council will have a majority to favor a millage rate increase, officials are proposing a 2.4 millage rate increase to 72.3 mills from the current 69.9 mills, hoping to both bring more revenue into the County and cover the County's roughly $3 million deficit from the 2014-15 budget.
A millage 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 home valued at $100,000; if approved, a homeowner would pay an additional $14.40 on a home valued at $150,000, officials said.
Council agreed last week to make cuts to several budget line items that included $400,000 out of the budget designated for the old Aiken County government complex and $100,000 toward the Aiken County Library for a ramp. Council also previously agreed to cut $25,000 out of a $100,000 budget line item designated for demolition costs. On Tuesday, Council members, with the exception of Chuck Smith and LaWana McKenzie, who was out sick, agreed to cut another $25,000 from the line item, leaving only $50,000 to demolish abandoned and vacant structures. Council did agree, however to put items back into the budget previously cut out, including $20,000 for vests for the Sheriff's Office.
Those cuts will come to nearly $2 million, but County Council member Kathy Rawls said she believes there is still more to be cut.
"I still think there's excess," she said. "What I see as unnecessary, someone else doesn't. When percentages are off, it perks my interest, maybe because I am a math teacher. But also when you see inefficiencies like in the Tax Collector's Office where you have people collecting delinquent taxes, I don't see why the treasurer can't complete all of them. ... Anybody can collect taxes, and you've got the same checks and balances that you do in the normal ones in the Treasurer's Office. I just think that department could be reduced by two, maybe three people."
Rawls also added she would not be in favor of a millage increase, "period."
The County is still waiting on word whether $1.6 million in disaster relief from the state's 2015-16 budget amendment will come their way, following the 2014 February ice storm, or Winter Storm Pax. That $1.6 million is now stalled in a conference committee after the S.C. House rejected the S.C. Senate's approved $7 billion budget that included an amendment to allocate $4.1 million in disaster relief to 22 counties.
County Administrator Clay Killian said Council is expected to hold the budget's second vote 7 p.m., Tuesday, but without a public hearing.
Maayan Schechter is the local government reporter with Aiken Standard.