Aiken County Council agreed on Tuesday to release their hold on the Coroner's Office 2014-15 budget line item allocated for the transportation and pickup of the deceased in Aiken County.
That roughly $50,000 line item was frozen last year by Council, affecting Langley-based company Rucker Removal Services, which was tasked for more than 20 years to pick up and transport the deceased in the County for the Coroner's Office.
But on May 15, Rucker ceased its services in Aiken County, citing the company had not received about $40,000 in payment owed for services performed since April 2014. After months of debate between Aiken County and Coroner Tim Carlton over which company - Rucker or Palmetto Mortuary Transport - should be utilized to perform the specialized transport service, Carlton filed a complaint last year against the County alleging they "interfered" with his office's operations.
The issue dates back to mid-January 2014 when Council awarded a contract for transportation and removal services to low-bidder Palmetto.
A contract with Palmetto was never executed; and Carlton continued to use Rucker, who came in with a bid of $175 per each local body removal to Palmetto's $160.
The debate went before Circuit Court Judge James Barber in May who decided there would be no need to hand down an emergency injunction requiring the County to pay for a transport and removal service, stating the coroner could always use Palmetto to continue the specialized services. Barber also denied a request from Carlton to order Council to appropriate funds to be placed in a contingency account to pay the outstanding balance to Rucker.
County Administrator Clay Killian told Council that a contract has since been signed with Palmetto. A portion of the funds from the 2014-15 budget line item will be allocated to Palmetto once the County receives their invoice for services in June.
Council will still have to decide whether to appropriate those same funds in the 2015-16 budget, which goes into effect July 1. The $50,000 designated for the Coroner's transport service is sitting in the County's administrative contingency fund. That fund covers unexpected expenses that the County can't budget for.
Council also agreed Tuesday to forward the County's 2015-16 $62.7 million budget, with an amendment, on to its final vote expected next week. That vote was unanimous, with the exception of Council member Sandy Haskell, who was not present.
In previous budget work sessions, Council agreed to cut several budget line items out of the general fund to avoid raising property taxes. Those cuts, which come to about $1 million, included $100,000 for a ramp at the Aiken County Library and $50,000 for the demolition of abandoned and vacant homes.
With the amendment, Council will avoid a millage rate, or property tax, increase in the next fiscal year. A portion of the $1 million in cuts will cover the difference of what a property tax increase could have brought the County in revenue, leaving about $542,000 in additional revenue.
In other business:
- Council authorized the acceptance of Augusta-based firm Toole Engineers Inc. as the design engineer for engineering and architectural services regarding the planning, design, permitting and services of the Langley pond finish line tower. A portion of the tower will be paid for using $250,000 from the South Carolina PRT Undiscovered South Carolina Grant. The other half of the $250,000 payment will be paid for using the County's local Accommodations Tax funds.
- Council agreed to analyze what portion of Aiken County residents utilize the City of North Augusta's Greenway before approving $25,000 in funds toward the Greenway from the County's local Accommodation Tax funds.
Maayan Schechter is the local government reporter with Aiken Standard.