Dills Bluff Sidewalk Plan

Town Council approved the conceptual plan for the Dills Bluff sidewalk project on a 4 to 1 vote last Thursday.   Councilman Garrett Milliken voted in opposition.  

The conceptual plan described a feasible route and three phases.    Last June,  Council voted unanimously to spend $11,500 to develop the plan.   Finally, it was ready.   By approving the plan, Council has endorsed the proposed route and phasing.   The proposed route is down Dills Bluff to Fort Sumter Drive, and then along Fort Sumter to Harborview Road.   

No timeline for constructing any portion of the project has been developed or approved.   The conceptual plan included construction cost estimates.   The estimated total for constructing all three phases is approximately $1 million.    Phase I alone is over $400,000.        

In my view, the next step is to do the design for Phase I.    "Design" is the detailed construction plans that would make Phase I "shovel ready."    The cost will be between $40,000 and $50,000.  Given this amount, there will be call for bids and the contract will come to Council for approval.

Phase I will complete the sidewalk along Dills Bluff between Camp Road and Seaside Lane.   There are already plans for constructing sidewalk along Dills Bluff from Fort Johnson past Camp to the edge of the marsh before Midvale.    The segment between Fort Johnson and Camp is being constructed by Charleston County as the final segment of the Fort Johnson sidewalk project.   The segment between Camp and the edge of the marsh is being constructed by Pulte Homes as part of the development agreement for the Preserve at Dills Bluff.   We are fortunate that these first segments are being completed at no cost to the Town's public works budget.

I anticipate asking Town Council to contribute Town funds to the construction of sidewalks on Dills Bluff.   However, because of the high construction cost, especially where Dills Bluff is bordered by marsh, the Town will need to obtain outside funding--TST (Transportation Sales Tax) or CTC (Charleston Transportation Committee) have been our sources for past public works projects.   We may be eligible for a Community Development Assistance Grant as well for this first phase.

The process is slow at best and we have a number of other public works projects in the pipeline already.  Sadly, experience proves that it will be some years before construction on Phase I begins.

When Phase I is scheduled for construction, it will certainly be time to do the design work on Phase II.   This will continue the sidewalk along Dills Bluff from Seaside Lane to Fort Sumter.   While the cost of doing the design work to make Phase II "shovel-ready" should be reasonable, the estimated construction cost is high--another $400,000.    Again, the problem is constructing sidewalk adjacent to the marsh.  We will again need to look to outside funding.

And finally, when Phase II is completed, we will get to Phase III--connecting the Dills Bluff sidewalk to the sidewalk on Harborview Road along Fort Sumter at reasonable cost.  The approximate $150,000 cost is close to other projects the Town has completed.

Because a signalized crosswalk is planned for Fort Sumter and Harborview Road, that is the logical location for the connection between the sidewalk on Dills Bluff and the new sidewalk on Harborview Road.   That was the conclusion of the engineers developing the concept plan.

I am not willing to hazard a guess when Phase III will be completed.    But, as I said before, I think we need to move important projects forward step-by-step.

Flooding This Fall

The Lowcountry is headed towards a 50 year high in rainfall this year.   And it was all concentrated in the last few months.   As a result, we have discovered weaknesses in the drainage on James Island.

Frankly, I believe many homeowners would have suffered damage even if our drainage system had been perfect, but I am very sorry that weaknesses in our drainage maintenance may have resulted in added damage to some.

I don't believe that we will have flooding every time it rains.   But after the statewide disaster, we had two further heavy rains concentrated here on James Island--one week apart.  Both resulted in flooding nearly as bad as the major flood.  Both days involved several inches of rain.

Please rest assured that maintaining the drainage in our Town has always been a key priority.   In the past, our focus was been to respond to citizen requests.   However, the very nature of drainage requires a systematic approach.   The Town, County, and SCDOT had just completed a major project in the Oceanview-Stonepost area, thankfully, just before the major flood.

The Town is responsible for drainage on Town roads and also for drainage ditches that are "off road" and within the Town's jurisdiction.  

The Town has an intergovernmental agreement with Charleston County, so Charleston County does basic drainage maintenance for the Town.   Our Town's public works coordinator, Mark Johnson, receives requests for ditch maintenance from residents of James Island and forwards them to the proper authority.   For those ditches that are the Town's responsibility, that is Charleston County.

I believe that Charleston County public works has been doing a good job for the Town.  However, we can use other contractors as well.   Given the recent backlog across the County, we are looking to use other contractors for some needed work.

Important portions of the drainage on James Island is the responsibility of the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT.)   This is the drainage along state-owned roads, which are all of the major roads, as well as many of our neighborhood roads.

The Town's public works coordinator forwards citizen requests to SCDOT when they have jurisdiction.   I also ask our state Representative and Senators for help, especially when problems are serious as they have been recently.

The City of Charleston is responsible for drainage along City roads and in ditches that are off-road in areas that have been annexed to the City.   The Town's public works coordinator forwards requests to the City of Charleston Public Works when it is their jurisdiction.   I share these issues with the members of City Council, especially when the problem is serious.

The County is responsible for drainage along County roads and ditches that are off road in the unincorporated area.  County roads are neighborhood roads that do not belong to the state.   The Town's public works coordinator forwards requests from these areas too, though they are not under the Town's jurisdiction.

On Friday, we had the quarterly Stormwater meeting at Town Hall.  We had representatives from Charleston County, the City of Charleston, and SCDOT.    We reviewed problem areas on James Island.   Everyone understands that this is a cross-jurisdictional issue and that we all need to work together.

We made plans to develop a drainage inventory map for James Island that includes the City of Charleston areas of jurisdiction.   This will be helpful to everyone.

SCDOT had a regular maintenance schedule, but it involved cleaning ditches every six years.  They have been given flexibility to respond to problem areas.   This change has occurred in response to the flooding in October.

The County and Town, on the other hand, continue to work towards a system of evaluating ditches and cleaning them as needed.   The flooding showed that simply responding to citizen requests left some ditches in no condition to handle the recent heavy rains.   For some areas, no one had any complaints for years, and nothing was done.  That will change.  While we will not go so far as SCDOT's old policy and have a 6 year schedule and ignore citizen complaints, we will not be as dependent on citizen requests in the future.

Property Tax Bills

We received the property tax bill for our house.

There was a new line--Town of James Island.   It was all zeros.   The Town millage was zero, the amount of Tax owed the Town was zero, and the percent of the total property tax going to the Town was zero.

This was mostly correct.   The Town millage is not zero, it is 20 mills.  However, because Town Council approved a sufficiently large tax credit, the amount owed the Town is zero and the percent of taxes going to the Town is zero.

There was a note added to the bill that explained this.   The language was agreed to by the County Auditor and the Town.   (It was approved by the Town Administrator and myself, as Mayor.)

Some months ago, I asked the County Auditor if it would be possible to show the Town's millage on the tax bill, as well as the amount of the municipal tax credit the Town would provide to reduce the amount of taxes each taxpayer pays the Town  to zero.   He said that they could do that.    Both the County Auditor and I thought that it would be easy.  Unfortunately, the County's software is not as easy to modify as we thought.   Making the modifications would take several months.   Both the County Auditor and I agreed that delaying the tax bills to people in the Town for months was unacceptable.   And so, the result was as a tax bill showing an incorrect zero millage.

The County Auditor is having their software company develop an upgrade so that next year's tax bill will be accurate.   I offered to pay the cost, which is estimated to be a few thousand dollars.   The Auditor explained that was not necessary and that it is his judgement that the County tax billing software should have this capability.  Next year, the tax bills should be accurate.

Good News on Camp Road Library

Thanks to our County Councilman, Joe Qualey, James Island should be able to keep our existing library branch as well as have a new branch on Grimball Road.    I greatly appreciate his efforts as well as the support of the majority of County Council who voted to renovate our existing library and keep it open.

I am very disappointed that Councilwoman Anna Johnson opposed something clearly beneficial to all of James Island--having two library branches rather than one.

I am especially looking forward to the new branch on Grimball Road.   I think the proposed meeting rooms will really serve a need in our community.

While the Grimball Road community is not in the Town, we want them back.  We continue to work to give the residents there an opportunity to annex.   Representative Peter McCoy has a bill filed in Columbia that will allow us to hold an annexation election in the various areas that used to be in the Town but could not be included in the 2012 reincorporation.

Some months ago, I reported on an email I received from County Council Chair, Elliot Summey, proposing that the County renovate the branch on Camp Road and lease it to the Town for approximately nothing.   The Town would be responsible for the $500,000 per year operating costs.

Neither I nor any member of Town Council was willing to commit to such a huge annual expense.   This would be approximately 20% of the Town's total reoccurring revenue.    Personally, I would be willing to budget some money for that purpose--more like $5,000 per year--closer to what we contribute to other James Island organizations.

Other members of Town Council asked how much the Town of Mount Pleasant or the City of Charleston were being charged to keep open their existing library branches.   The answer was nothing.

I just can't see having a Town budget where the largest single expense by far would be a library branch.

My priority for the Town funds has always been infrastructure.   New sidewalks and paving earth roads continues to be important, though in the last week, some drainage projects have moved up on my list of priorities.   There are plenty of places the Town can spend money.

The Town is planning to build a Town Hall that will certainly cost more than $500,000, but it  will not be  $500,000 each year.     Once the new Town Hall is completed, it should reduce our operating costs by saving  the $70,000 each year we pay in rent.    I hope we will be able to pay off Town Hall within a few years.

The Town pays $150,000 each year for Charleston County Sheriffs Office deputies to provide additional law enforcement in the Town.   If necessary, the Island Sheriff's Patrol can be expanded.

I understand that some members of County Council were considering a reduced size for the new Grimball Road facility and using the funds saved to renovate and keep open the Camp Road branch.   When I explained to County Council Chairman Elliot Summey that the Town could not agree to expend $500,000 per year to keep open the Camp Road branch, I said that I did not support any downsizing for the proposed new library on Grimball Road.

Like most James Islanders, I am very happy that the Island will have two library branches--the existing one and a new, much larger one after 2017.    I certainly hope that County Council can find the funds to pay for both of them.   While $500,000 is more than 20% of our reoccurring funds, it is less than one quarter of one percent of the County's budget.

I am extremely troubled by the offensive claim that anyone who favors keeping open the library branch on Camp Road is racist.     The branch on Camp Road is right next to the  "Down the Island" neighborhood, as is Town Hall and the Camp Center Shopping Center.   I certainly expect that both the existing branch on James Island and the new branch will be patronized by a racially-diverse clientele.

And, of course, that Brian Hicks would try to twist this so to blame the Town of James Island is no surprise.

I do wish he would name some names.

Who on James Island is complaining about the County Council vote because it is conditional on finding sufficient funds?

Who on James Island is complaining that having two library branches--both of which will be open to patrons of all races--is racist?  

Ethics Fine

Last year, Trent Kernodle filed a complaint with the South Carolina Ethics Commission accusing me of using my Town email and the Town website to influence the 2014 James Island Public Service District election.     He complained that I used my Town email to ask the candidates questions and then evaluated their answers and shared the results with voters.

These accusations were false.   I did not use my Town email for these purposes.   My Town email was mayorwoolsey@jamesislandsc.us.     (It is now bwoolsey@jamesislandsc.us.)     I used my gmail account, mayorwoolsey@gmail.com.    This is a free gmail account that I created in 2010, shortly after being elected Mayor.  It does not belong to the Town.

I did not use the Town website to influence the JIPSD elections.   I used my personal blog, "Mayors Corner."    This is a free blog that I created in late 2010.   It does not belong to the Town.

The Ethics Commission investigators agreed that Mayors Corner is my personal property and that I have a first amendment right to speak out on matters that I consider of concern to the  citizens of the Town.    They agreed that I did not use the Town email to write the candidates to ask them questions or communicate the answers or my evaluation of the answers to voters.

However, the investigator discovered a link on the Town website to my personal blog.   If you went to the Town website, and then went to the section of the website for elected officials, and then went to the section for the Mayor, you would find my picture, my Town email, my personal cell phone, and a link to my personal blog, Mayors Corner.  

The investigator also claimed that there was a link on the Town's website to my campaign facebook page.   However, that was false.   The link on the Town's website was to the Town's facebook page.   The investigator most probably found something shared from my personal facebook page, "Mayor Woolsey" to the Town facebook page.   And there was a link on my Mayor Woolsey facebook page to my campaign facebook page.    The investigator admitted that he wasn't very familiar with facebook and this accusation was dropped.

The Ethics Commission decided that because Mayors Corner included posts that were aimed at influencing the result of the election, and that during the 2014 JIPSD election campaign, I had left a link to my personal blog on the Town website, I was in that way using the public property, that is, the Town's website, to influence an election.    For that violation, they fined me $1000 and imposed a $250 administrative fee.

Kernodle's false accusation turned up a single link on an obscure section of the Town's website, and so I had to pay a hefty fine.  

Town Hall Workshop

Bullet Hole Found at Payne Church Sunday Morning

A bullet-hole was found in the front door of Payne Church on Camp Road early Sunday morning. I attended worship service with the congregation in the Fellowship Hall while Charleston County Sheriff's Deputies investigated the church building. The most likely time that the bullet was fired was late Saturday night or early Sunday morning.

Pastor Junious and the congregation did the right thing by carrying on with their worship.

But this is intolerable.

Please help us stop terrorism on our Island.

Keep an eye out for our local churches. If you hear a gunshot, call 911.

If you have any information about who is doing these hateful crimes please call Crimestoppers at 544-1111 or use tip411

Help bring this to a stop

Saturday, Sept. 12--James Island Pride Clean Up and Dedication for Ben Rd., Jeffrey, and Lemontree Rd.

This Saturday will be busy for the Town of James Island.  Starting at 9:00, James Island Pride will be holding another regular Community  Clean-Up.       

Volunteering is a great way to benefit your community. We can not keep James Island beautiful and litter free unless there are volunteers willing to donate a little time and effort into making this Community Cleanup a success. Beyond being unsightly, litter presents a threat to wildlife and public health. Pitching in and cleaning up some trash is an easy way for anyone to help out.

Pick up 'Lunch Ticket' and Supplies between 9:00-9:30am. Lunch provided, served at 11:00am for volunteers at Town of James Island.

We Provide:
Water
Safety Vests
Work Gloves
Trash Bags
& Lunch

What to Bring:...
Comfortable Shoes
Sunscreen/ Bug Spray
Your Friends!

 

At 11 there will be a dedication ceremony for three roads that have been paved in the Town--Ben Road, Jeffrey Road, and Lemontree Road.     This will be at Stephen Washington Park, which is the City of Charleston Park located at the corner of Honey Hill Drive and Fort Johnson Road.

The Town initiated both of these paving projects.   The Town contributed its own funds and requested matching funds.  Some of the matching funds for the Ben Road project came from the 1/2 cent sales tax.  The matching funds for Lemontree and Jeffrey came from the Charleston County Transportation Committee, which is made up of representatives of local governments and disburses funds provided by the state. Charleston County Transportation managed both projects on behalf of the Town.  Thank you.

 

I plan to combine the two activities, picking up trash along Fort Johnson, Ben Rd., Jeffrey Road, and Lemontree Road so that they will all be nice and neat before the ceremony.

Town 1 Kernodle 0

As reported last month, the afternoon before our July 23 special meeting, the Town received a letter from one of the out-of-town attorneys working with Kernodle threatening to seek a preliminary injunction against the Town unless we agreed to postpone consideration of our budget amendment that had passed first reading at our July 9 meeting.  We were given a deadline for the morning of July 23 to respond.

The budget amendment levied a 20 mill property tax, provided a $2,948,058 tax credit to zero out the tax for all taxpayers, and budgeted $840,000 to build a new Town Hall and $200,000 to maintain a reserve.    The Town did not meet Kernodle's deadline and they filed a request for a preliminary injunction on the afternoon of July 23.   That evening, Town Council passed the budget amendment 3-2 on second and final reading.

The hearing for the injunction was held this morning.   It all started an 9:30.   There were many motions on other cases before Judge Dennis, but when it was our turn, it lasted only a few minutes.  

Kernodle and the out-of-town attorney introduced themselves.   Our Town Attorney, Bo Wilson introduced himself as did Danny Crowe, former general counsel of the Municipal Association of South Carolina, who the Town has also retained to help defend us from the Kernodle legal attack.

Judge Dennis asked Kernodle what he wanted.   The out-of-town attorney spent about 2 minutes explaining that this was a dispute about the Local Option Sales Tax statute and that they wanted the Town to distribute the funds received from the Property Tax Credit funds to property owners on James Island.   (They are suing the Town to make us carry out Kernodle's campaign pledge to "mail the checks.")

The Judge said that this was something like a case in Berkeley County, and what did they want to enjoin.   The out-of--town attorney said they wanted the Town to not dissipate the LOST funds that it is holding.   That took about a minute.

Judge Dennis said that this is clearly a case at law and that we are talking about a Town.

DENIED!

Our lawyers never  had to say a thing.

It was all over in a few minutes.

Sign Up for the Citizen Alert Notification

Sign-up for Citizen Alert Notification  by visiting https://member.everbridge.net/index/453003085611698#/login to receive the latest info on Hurricane Fred and other named storms this Hurricane season.

Erica Remnants -- Thank the Lord..

 

 

Erica passed us by!   But got keep watch on the coast of Africa.   When will November come!

Erica -- August 28 5 AM Forecast

Pinckney Park Workshop Thurs. Aug. 27 at 5:30

Rethink Folly Road Open House

The Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments (BCDCOG) invites community members to attend an Open House to continue the conversation about the future of the Folly Road corridor, extending from the Wappoo Cut Bridge on James Island to Center Street on Folly Beach.

Community Open House | Wednesday, August 26, 2015

5:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Lowcountry Senior Center, 865 Riverland Drive, Charleston, SC

 

In May 2015, a public design charrette was conducted to develop a vision for the Folly Road corridor.  Since the charrette, the ideas generated have been further studied and detailed. A draft summary report, as well as appendix of analysis materials, is now ready for review here:

 

http://bit.ly/rethinkfolly

 

http://bit.ly/rethinkfollyappendix

 

 

Attend the Open House to learn more about the ideas for mobility, urban design, and green infrastructure on Folly Road, as well as give us your feedback!

Pinckney Park Open House

Great News--Town Closed on Pinckney Park Property

The Town closed on the Pinckney Park property today.   Finally!  We started pursuing this site two years ago. 

Pinckney Park is located at 461 Fort Johnson Road.   It is 7.37 acres.

We will be having an "open house," on Sunday, August 23rd from 1 to 5.   This is an opportunity for the public to take a look at the property.

There will be a public Workshop at 5:30 on Thursday, August 27 at Town Hall.   This will be an opportunity for the public to share ideas about the new park.

The Town purchased the property from Mr. Jerome Harris.   He said that the property has been in the Pinckney family since 1875. (Mr. Harris' mother was a Pinckney.)    Mr. Harris and his wife are pleased that the land will be preserved and that they and their family members will be able to visit the Park.

The price was $890,000.   It was funded by the Town's urban allocation from the Charleston County Greenbelt fund.   Everyone should give County Councilman Joe Qualey a big thank you.  He requested that the Town receive (back) its allocation after it was reincorporated in 2012.

Lyndy Palmer served as real estate agent for the Town.    It was a long process with much back and forth between the Town and the Harris family.  Thank you Lyndy.

Town Administrator Ashley Kellahan worked with the Cathy Ruff at Charleston County Greenbelt to work through the approval process.   Thank you.

The Town hopes to advertise a Request for Qualifications for park design in September.  

Mr. and Mrs. Harris with me in front of the oak tree after the closing.

 

 

The plat from 1923

 

 

 

View from Pinckney Park

 

 

Another view from Pinckney Park

 

 

Aerial Photo of Pinckney Park

 

 

 

Letter to the Editor from JIPSD Chair

The new Chair of the JIPSD, June Waring, recently published a letter to the editor in the Post and Courier.   The occasion of the letter was a Brian Hicks column that only mentioned the JIPSD in passing.   He had claimed that the Town doesn't provide any real services, mentioning that there is another body that provides fire protection and solid waste collection in the Town.    I suppose the JIPSD felt compelled to respond against the implied notion that the Town should take over the provision of fire protection and solid waste collection so that it would no longer be a "paper town."

The Chair of the JIPSD asserts that the JIPSD had to sign a contract to continue providing services to the Town's residents before the Town was incorporated.   She is mistaken in two major ways.  The application submitted by Free James Island for incorporation of a Town on James Island did need to make some provision for fire service.   If we said that we were planning to obtain fire service from some other government body, rather than proposing to set up our own fire department, we were required to have a letter from that other body.   I thought that having the JIPSD continue to provide fire service in the new Town was the best approach.   I appreciate that the JIPSD wrote a letter stating that they would continue to provide services in the Town.    However, if the JIPSD had refused, we could have proposed setting up our own fire department instead.

More importantly, a letter from the JIPSD is no contract.   Free James Island did not sign an agreement with the JIPSD that the Town would continue to obtain any service from the JIPSD or allow the JIPSD to continue to collect taxes in its jurisdiction.   And even if Free James Island did sign such an agreement, it would not be binding on the voters and elected officials of the newly formed Town.   If someone had run for Mayor in 2012 on the platform of setting up a Town fire department or contracting with the City of Charleston for fire services, then if the voters elected that candidate and a like-minded Council, the Town could have gone that route.

If the JIPSD Commissioners tried to cut off services in the Town of James Island (a  possibility I have considered,) we would use that letter as part of our legal response.  I believe it does bind the JIPSD.   However, their original charter and the laws of South Carolina governing special purposes districts and municipalities also provides the Town with plenty of legal recourse against such an abuse of power.    South Carolina law requires that any transfer of service rights from the JIPSD to the Town be by negotiation and agreement.   In my view, the best approach is for the voters of the Town to elect JIPSD Commissioners who will come to a fair and reasonable agreement with the Town.  

The JIPSD Chair claims that the Town may use 29% of the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) to pay for a Town Hall or anything else but 71% of the LOST money belongs to the taxpayers of the island.   That statement is false.   The 29% and 71% percentages do not apply to municipalities at all.   A municipality is required to provide a credit against the tax liability of its taxpayers at least equal to the revenue it receives from the Property Tax Credit Fund.   A tax credit is a reduction in the amount of a tax that must be paid.   The Town introduced a municipal property tax for 2015 and provided a credit against the tax liability of Town taxpayers.    The total credit is equal to the total amount of revenue the Town expects to have  received from the Property Tax Credit Fund plus interest by the end of the 2015-16 fiscal year.    The credit on each tax bill will be equal to the tax liability that would otherwise be owed to the Town.  This will zero-out the tax liability of each taxpayer.

The JIPSD Chair states that I didn't want to distribute money to the people as had been done in prior versions of the Town.    That is mostly false.  The first incorporation of the Town, between 1992 and 1997, never used LOST revenue to mail checks.  The second incorporation of the Town, between 2002 and 2004, never used LOST revenue to mail checks.   It was only in the third incorporation between 2006 and 2011, that the Town introduced a program of using revenue from LOST to mail out checks to JIPSD taxpayers starting in 2008.   When I became Mayor in 2010, I learned first hand that this created an administrative nightmare.   No other municipality in South Carolina uses LOST funds to mail checks.   No LOST funds have been  used to mail out  checks in the fourth incorporation that started in 2012.   However, I would note that it is not simply a matter of what the Mayor wants to do.  Any check writing program would require approval by Council and no member of Council favors using LOST funds to have the Town or anyone else write thousands of checks. 

The JIPSD Chair claims the Town's property owners want their LOST money.  There was an election in 2014 and Trent Kernodle ran on a platform to "mail the checks it is just like Christmas."   He lost.   I knocked on over 1,000 doors and only a handful of people told me they wanted the Town to mail checks. 

The JIPSD Chair states that there is a citizen's lawsuit to get the LOST funds.   Two former JIPSD Commissioners and the "former" General Counsel of the JIPSD are suing the Town.    Who is that?  Trent Kernodle and some of his political backers.  What is he doing?  He lost the election, and now is trying to have a court overrule the verdict of the voters.

The JIPSD Chair states that I have been trying to shift the supposed duty to distribute LOST funds to the JIPSD.   That is false.  I have never proposed that the JIPSD mail any check to any taxpayer.    What I have proposed is that the JIPSD receive less of  Town taxpayers' money and have the Town pay the JIPSD for services, using our LOST funds.

The JIPSD Chair states that "he don't seem to believe that the JIPSD is prevented from meddling with those funds by law."   This is true, though there is no need to add the word "seem."   There no law that prohibits the JIPSD from receiving payment for services from a municipality when that municipality receives LOST funds.  The JIPSD has been receiving funds from the City of Folly Beach and the City of Charleston for years and both of them receive funds from LOST.      

The JIPSD Chair states that I even proposed some kind of monetary exchange by which the mayor would take over the town portion of sanitation services.  She claims that is unlawful.   This is false.   I have proposed that the Town  purchase solid waste collection from the JIPSD by contract.   I don't think  that is accurately described as "the mayor taking over the sanitation service."  The proposal  made by the Town is lawful.     The South Carolina Code allows for the purchase of services by one government body from another, including specifically municipalities like the Town and special purpose districts like the JIPSD.   The South Carolina Constitution provides broad authority to local governments to come to mutually beneficial arrangements.  

The JIPSD Chair had an opportunity to hire a new General Counsel that could provide them with sound and objective advice.   She voted against that course.   Too bad.    Are the majority of Commissioners unwilling or unable to provide even the most minimal critical scrutiny to Trent Kernodle's arguments?   Or are they complicit in this effort to promote their preferred policy of "mailing the checks" by making false and misleading claims that all other alternatives are illegal?  Regardless, in 2016, June Waring, Eugene Platt, and Carter McMillan are up for election.    Hopefully, in 2017, there will be a majority of JIPSD Commissioners who are willing to work with the Town on tax relief.

Finally, the JIPSD Responds in our Sewer Bill.... and it Stinks.

The JIPSD is increasing property taxes in the Town by approximately 4% and cutting back on our garbage services by 50%. 

  

I proposed an alternative--the JIPSD could cut taxes rather than increase them by transferring service rights to solid waste collection to the Town.   I proposed that the Town pay them to pick up garbage and trash in the Town by contract.   I even offered to negotiate on the basis of continued two day a week pick up.   My only condition was that they lower the property tax they levy in the Town so that they are no longer collecting monies from our taxpayers for the cost of solid waste collection.   They could continue to collect taxes in the Town to pay for fire and the other miscellaneous services they provide.   The result would have been a significant property tax cut in the Town rather than a tax increase.

As usual, I proposed discussions--more than two months before the July 31 deadline to make changes in the 2015 tax bill.   As usual, there were no discussions.   After the deadline passed, we all got their response with our sewer bills.   And the response was just as stinky as Plum Island.

It is too late for the JIPSD to lower taxes in the Town on the 2015 tax bill.   So it is too late for the Town to enter a solid waste contract with the JIPSD for the 2015-16 fiscal year.   

The new JIPSD Chair, June Waring, signed a newsletter claiming that the JIPSD "serves" an area with 24,000 people.  There are currently 11,520 people in the Town of James Island.   However, there are fewer than 14,000 registered voters in the JIPSD and over 9,000 of them are in the Town.     

The JIPSD Commissioners should remember that they don't own a private corporation but are elected officials accountable to the voters.    Approximately 2/3 of the voters in the District are in the Town.   Nearly all of the other 1/3 were in the Town before and one of my key goals is to provide them an opportunity to return.  Once we reunite the Town, 100% of the voters and taxpayers in the JIPSD will be in the Town.

The Town never agreed to stay out of the "business" of the JIPSD.   The JIPSD provided a letter promising to continue to provide services in the prospective  Town.  Free James Island made no promise that the Town would always obtain services from the JIPSD or allow the JIPSD to collect taxes in the Town's jurisdiction.   I would never make a promise to bind all future generations of James Islanders to some particular approach to providing fire protection, solid waste collection, sewer, or anything else.  More importantly, Free James Island had no authority to bind the voters or elected officials of the Town to do anything.

Further, the application Free James Island submitted to the South Carolina Secretary of State specifically included the possibility of the Town collecting its own property tax and obtaining solid waste collection services from the JIPSD by contract.    And that is what I proposed to the JIPSD in May.

One of the problems with the JIPSD's approach to discussions with the Town is that they never ask us any questions.   I never proposed that the JIPSD have two different types of garbage trucks.  That is up to them.   I would welcome the introduction of rolling garbage bins in the Town.   Is it really true that the JIPSD management can't figure out how to schedule twice a week pick up in the Town?   How much would creating an appropriate schedule cost?    The Town would be open to compensating the JIPSD for that or any other necessary cost.  Obviously, we would have to pay significantly more for continued twice a week service.  

If the added cost of twice a week service turned out to be too high for us to afford, then we would have had to settle for one day a week like the unincorporated portion of the District.    But why not discuss it?

The South Carolina Constitution provides for different tax rates by a local government in different areas based upon different services.   Further, it allows for the provision of services by one government entity to another by contract.   The South Carolina Code provides for a special purpose district to have a lower property tax rate in a municipality when those taxes fund different services within the municipality than in other areas of the district.  It also allows for the provision of services by a special service district to a municipality by contract.

The Town proposed that the JIPSD continue to collect taxes in the Town to provide for fire and other miscellaneous services, but not solid waste collection.   While the JIPSD taxes would be lower in the Town than in the unincorporated portion of the District, there would be no injury to the taxpayers in the unincorporated area of the District.  Their taxes would be the same as before and part of their taxes would continue to pay for solid waste collection as well as fire and other miscellaneous services.    The lower JIPSD taxes in the Town would be consistent with the South Carolina Constitution because the people in the Town would not be paying for solid waste services by paying taxes to the JIPSD.   The Town would be paying the JIPSD for solid waste service on behalf of our residents

The newsletter article then brings up the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST.)   The Town has introduced a property tax and has provided credits against that millage for the 2015 tax year.  We are now applying the LOST statute exactly as do the vast majority of South Carolina municipalities in the counties that have adopted LOST.   All of those other municipalities use all of the revenue received from LOST for general purposes.   Paying for services by contract, including by contract with another government body such as a special purpose district, is one such purpose.  No other municipality in South Carolina mails "refund" checks.

Since the JIPSD refused to negotiate an agreement for solid waste collection, the Town has no need of funds to pay for solid waste services.   The JIPSD continues to collect taxes in the Town's jurisdiction for that.   The Town will be using the revenue to pay for a new Town Hall by lease-purchase agreement.  Unlike many other municipalities in the state, the Town's millage is low enough and the credit high enough to zero out the Town tax for all of our taxpayers.

While I was open to creative solutions for providing a Town LOST tax credit against the JIPSD or County tax bills, I think that providing a credit against our own millage puts the Town beyond legal challenge.   As an aside, the Town has never tried to compel the County or the JIPSD to provide town LOST credits against their millage on the tax bill.   We asked that they agree to do so.   The South Carolina Constitution gives local governments broad authority to make mutually beneficial agreements.  But, I no longer think pursuing such an agreement is in the Town's best interest.

What is the difference between the County and the JIPSD?    Only one member of Charleston County Council has a significant number of Town voters in his district--Councilman Joe Qualey.   The only other member of Council that has any Town voters in her district is Councilwoman Anna Johnson, and nearly all of her constituents don't even live on James Island.   The other 7 members of County Council represent no James Island voters.

Every JIPSD Commissioner has 2/3 of his or her constituents in the Town.  Three of them--Commissioners Waring, Wilder, and McMillan--don't live in the Town.   But they are all elected at-large and all of them represent all of us.   I expect more from JIPSD Commissioners than most members of County Council.  Joe Qualey only has 1 of 9 votes.   (In reality, there are more members of County Council than JIPSD Commissioners who are helpful to the Town.)

Incredibly, the JIPSD newsletter article appears to threaten our voting rights.   The JIPSD would force the Town to pay them money while taking away our right to vote in JIPSD elections.

I will never accept taxation without representation for the people of our Town.   Fortunately, the South Carolina Constitution protects our right to vote in JIPSD elections as long as they continue to force us to pay for their services.

The JIPSD newsletter article also proposes that the Town be forced to pay the JIPSD for solid waste collection without the JIPSD picking up any garbage or trash in our Town.   That is an obvious rip-off.   

What is the excuse?   The City of Charleston and Folly Beach agreed to such a ridiculous plan years ago.   I suppose they had their reasons.    Most importantly, they don't want any services from the JIPSD.   (They don't want anything to do with the JIPSD.)  And I am sure that a major consideration is that only a small part of their territory and few of their citizens are subject to such an unreasonable and unfair agreement.

The Town is in a completely different situation from the City of Folly Beach and the City of Charleston because we have always proposed that the JIPSD continue to provide services to the Town.  We just want to pay for at least some of the tax-funded services directly rather than having the JIPSD cover all of the costs for all of them by collecting taxes in our jurisdiction.  Further, the entire Town is within the territory of the JIPSD and all of our residents currently vote in JIPSD elections and all of our taxpayers pay JIPSD taxes--currently about 1/2 of the total property tax bill for homeowners in the Town.

The newsletter article claims that the Town's proposal will increase costs and the tax burden for those outside of the Town.   No specifics were provided.  None ever are.   I am confident that there are no significant costs at all, but if there are, the Town would of course offer to cover them.  That is why we should have discussions.

I have never proposed that the Town do anything but pay our fair share of costs.  Nearly every voter and taxpayer in the JIPSD was in the Town before 2011.   We are working to reunite the Town so that every voter and taxpayer in the JIPSD is back in the Town.   I would never propose a deal that is unfair to our former and future citizens.

The deadline for the JIPSD to lower rather than raise their property tax on the 2015 tax bill has passed.  It is too late for a solid waste contract with the JIPSD for the 2015-16 fiscal year.
I plan to make a similar proposal again next year, but I anticipate that the majority of JIPSD Commissioners will again say no.   In my view, the best opportunity will be after the  next JIPSD Commission election.   June Waring, Eugene Platt and Carter McMillan will be up for re-election in 2016.   I plan to ask each of them where they stand on a solid waste contract with the Town.   (And this time, I will be sure to ask if any of them are getting free legal help from Trent Kernodle on the side.)

If there is a majority of JIPSD Commissioners who want to work with the Town instead of "just say no," after November of 2016, then we will have the opportunity for a Town and JIPSD that work together to benefit all of the people of James Island--including some needed tax relief.

Taxes in the Town

I don't like any tax, however, my primary goal for the Town has always been to keep the Town from increasing the tax burden on our residents and property owners.    This is conditional on maintaining the level of service that existed before the formation of the Town.   I also have worked for improved services, but that is conditional on avoiding any increase in the tax burden.  

I can't claim perfection, but services have improved without any significant increase in tax burden.  Certainly, there has been no increase in Town taxes like Mayor Riley and other Town opponents claimed during our incorporation fight.

I have never promised that the Town would have no taxes.   Mayor Mary Clark would frequently brag that the Town has never had taxes and never would.   Over a decade ago, as a member of Town Council, I told her that she should look at our budget--we have all sorts of taxes in the Town.   But it went in one ear and out the other.   She would be back bragging on how we had no taxes and never would. 

Of course, up until now, the Town had no property tax millage.    Council has just approved a 20 mil property tax on a 3-2 vote, but also property tax credits so that the Town won't be increasing anyone's property tax.   This proposal is very consistent with my primary goal of not increasing the tax burden in the Town.

Reviewing material from my 2010 campaign for Mayor, I have found nowhere that I promised I would always oppose a Town property tax.   I would think my view then, like now, was a goal of not increasing the tax burden in the Town.   

Further, while avoiding tax increases is primary, I have also worked to reduce the property tax burden in the Town.   My approach has been to have the Town use the revenue we receive from the LOST property tax credit fund to purchase services from the JIPSD on behalf of the Town's residents.  In my view, the amount of tax collected by the JIPSD on property tax  bills should be reduced, so the property taxpayers in the Town would pay less.   The JIPSD would get some or all of its money to cover the cost of services in the Town from the Town government rather than getting all of it from directly collecting property taxes within the Town's jurisdiction.

I am not sure when I first began to advocate that approach, but it was sometime after I became Mayor in 2010 and saw first hand the administrative nightmare created by mailing tax "refund" checks.  This approach was mentioned in the last newsletter the Town mailed in 2011, right before Mayor Riley and the South Carolina Supreme Court closed us down.  It was not original to me.   This is exactly what Mayor Joan Sooy had worked out with the JIPSD and Charleston County Auditor in 1995.   Unfortunately, the first Town was ruled illegally formed just before the tax bills including the Town tax credit were to be mailed by the County Auditor.

Using LOST funds to reduce the amount collected on the tax bill was outlined in the Town's application for incorporation that we submitted in November of 2011.   It was also outlined in the material distributed by Free James Island during the election campaign for incorporation in the spring of 2012.    Nothing submitted by the Town in our incorporation application and none of the Free James Island literature promised the Town would mail refund checks.  Nothing promised that we would never have a Town property tax.

While I was unopposed as candidate for Mayor in 2012, reduced property tax payments to the JIPSD in exchange for the Town paying for JIPSD services was part of my platform.   I asked every candidate for Council in 2012 whether they would support my plan for tax relief.   I explained why "mailing checks" was a bad idea.   All of them agreed other than Sam Kernodle.   Sam Kernodle didn't support mailing the checks.  He favored spending the LOST money on Town services.   Interestingly, Sandi Engelman, who is now party to a suit aimed at forcing the Town to "mail the checks," agreed with using the money to pay for services from the JIPSD in exchange for a reduction in the amount paid to the JIPSD on the tax bill.   She expressed no interest in "mailing the checks" in 2012.

The Town was only open again for business in August of 2012, past the deadline to do anything with the 2012  tax bill that comes out in October.  However, I immediately asked the County Auditor to create a Town tax district.   They finished in the spring of 2013.  I then shared the proposal for property tax relief with the JIPSD, in plenty of time to allow for lower taxes on the 2013 tax bill.   A Town tax credit would be put against the JIPSD taxes and the Town would pay the difference to the JIPSD for services.  The Town received a letter back from them refusing cooperation and stating that the Commissioners believed that citizens preferred to receive a check from the Town.    (We now know that this is the personal preference of Commissioners Hollingsworth and Platt.  They want a check in their hand.)

At that point, I came to the conclusion that the best approach would be for the Town to collect its own property tax and provide a credit against that tax.   If the Town has its own property tax, it must provide a credit.  My proposal, of course, was for the JIPSD to lower its taxes in the Town, and have the Town pay the JIPSD for services by contract.   That approach had also been included as a possibility in the Town's application for incorporation in November 2011, though it was stated as a less likely approach than providing a credit against JIPSD property taxes.

In November 2013, Town Council voted 4-0 for a resolution instructing me to negotiate with the JIPSD for them to cease collecting taxes in our Town and have the Town instead collect taxes.  The Town would purchase fire and solid waste services from the JIPSD by contract.   Because the Town would be obligated to provide a property tax credit against our own taxes, this would have allowed for a tax reduction on the 2014 tax bill.   Councilman Blank and Mullinax and Councilwoman Berry were all on board. ( I expected Councilman Kernodle to oppose, but he missed the November meeting.   That was not unusual.)  

I wrote the JIPSD and they said no.    While the letter was signed by then JIPSD Chairman David Engelman and Vice Chairman Donnie Hollingsworth, they later said at a JIPSD Commission meeting that it was all over their head and Trent Kernodle wrote the letter.   So, in his letter, Kernodle argued that having the Town pay for services from the JIPSD would be illegal and advocated that the Town mail the checks.    The Town provided a response proposing further talks and pointing out the obvious errors Kernodle's arguments, but there were no talks. 

I spoke with Senator Thurmond about the matter, and he suggested we talk to Charleston County about having a tax credit against the County tax bill.    While a good idea, it turned out to be a dead end.   During discussions between the County Attorney and Town Attorney, it was apparently suggested that the County would argue before the Supreme Court that the Town shouldn't receive any LOST funds because it has no property tax.  That was a bit disconcerting.

During the spring and summer of 2014, the Town received opinions from the South Carolina Attorney General rejecting Trent Kernodle's arguments.

Trent Kernodle ran for Mayor in 2014.  One of his planks was to mail the checks.   He said that it was just like Christmas when he received the checks from the Town.   The last set of checks mailed by Mary Clark arrived right before the 2010 Town election.   A special Christmas for election day courtesy of the Mayor. (Interestingly,  Councilman Sam Kernodle never once proposed that the Town mail the checks.   He never even asked to put it on the agenda.   I think the plan has been all along for the Kernodle's to hand out theses political Christmas presents--one way or another.)

Cooperation with the Town was a major issue in the 2014 JIPSD Commission elections.   Commissioner Inez Brown-Crouch, who has aways worked with the Town came in first.   Commissioner Cubby Wilder, who promised to work with the Town, came in second.   Kay Kernodle, who was committed to fighting the Town on every issue, came in third.   On election night, it looked like former Town Councilwoman Mary Beth Berry would win and so we would have 4 Commissioners who would work with the Town.  However, absentee votes allowed Chairman Hollingsworth to squeak back in.   So, there were only three Commissioners who would support the Town--McMillan, Brown, and Wilder.    It looked obvious to me that we could expect to lose 4-3 on every issue.

After Commissioner Wilder was sworn in, however, it became clear that the Town could not count on his support.   It is understandable.   He owns a building on Mosquito Beach that he rents out to a nightclub.   Charleston County found various code violations, which could have forced him to close down.   Trent Kernodle said during his interview to return as JIPSD General Council just last week that he has been providing Commissioner Wilder with free legal help on the matter.    It is natural that Commissioner Wilder would feel a moral obligation to vote on Commission matters in a way that would help the Kernodle's achieve their political goals--including the Kernodle "mail the checks" plan.   And so, we are back to 5-2 against the Town whenever it counts.

Anyway, at the Town's budget workshop in March 2015, I asked each member of Town Council if they favored mailing checks.  Not one said they did.   Councilmen Blank and Milliken were very vocally opposed.   Councilman Stokes was opposed as well. (Of course, I had asked him before I endorsed him in the 2014 election.)   I had to ask Councilman Mullinax, but he also said no.   

Also at the March budget workshop, several members of Council argued that the Town had waited long enough for tax relief and that unless we can get the JIPSD to agree to something this year, we should start to spend the LOST money.   Councilman Milliken was most vocal in favor of spending the money.   (His wife, Susan Milliken, apparently proposed to members of County Council that we spend most of what we receive each year from the LOST property tax credit fund to keep open the Camp Road library branch after 2017.)   There was no vote, but listening to each member of Council, it was clear that there was a majority in favor of spending the money if my longstanding plan to get tax relief was not implemented and soon.

In March of 2014, I met with JIPSD Commission Chairman Hollingsworth to outline a proposal that the Town collect  a 35.1 mil tax and pay the JIPSD for fire service by contract.   In exchange, the JIPSD would lower its property tax by 35.1 mils.  The Town would provide a LOST credit against our own tax.  This was in plenty of time for a very significant tax cut on the 2015 tax bill and lower taxes thereafter.  A few days later, I emailed him the proposal in writing and asked him to forward it to his finance staff so we could begin discussions.  

The next week, the Town was served with a  class action lawsuit from former JIPSD general counsel Trent Kernodle, with former JIPSD Chair David Engelman and his wife, Sandi and former Commissioner Rod Welch as parties.  The suit seeks to force the Town to carry out Kernodle's campaign plank--mail the checks.    I don't think the timing was an accident.

Due to the suit, I am more convinced than ever that it is in the best interest of the Town to provide a tax credit against our own tax millage.   That is what the vast majority of municipalities eligible for LOST revenues do.   I believe it puts the Town beyond legal challenge.    The worst scenario for the Town would be a court ruling that only municipalities with property tax are eligible to receive revenue from the LOST property tax credit fund.   That would mean that our money would be divided up among the municipalities that do have property tax.   I don't think that outcome is likely, but we won't have to worry about that any more if we are providing a credit against our own millage.

I will continue to try to find a majority of JIPSD Commissioners who will reduce the property tax they collect in the Town and accept our money in exchange for the provision of services.  I will continue to try to find a majority on Town Council that will agree to pay for JIPSD services by contract. I will continue to work for lower property taxes in the Town. 

Right now, I think it is in the best interests of the Town and the JIPSD to have a contract for the provision of solid waste services.   Council approved the needed Town budget 4-1 on first reading in May.   I wrote the JIPSD to ask them to put in on their agenda for a vote.    As usual--there was no vote by the JIPSD.

Unfortunately, it will be very difficult to accomplish tax relief as long as a majority of JIPSD Commissioners are in Trent Kernodle's back pocket--especially as long as we have a pending lawsuit that Kernodle hopes will provide him another big payday at the expense of the Town.    The next JIPSD election is in 2016.  (Sadly, I fear that some of those suing the Town have substantial influence on our own Town Council, but they don't have a majority like they do on the JIPSD.)

In the meantime, I have agreed with other members of Council that we should no longer continue to accumulate the revenue we receive from the LOST property tax credit fund as we have for the last three years, but instead use money we expect to receive in 2015-16 to help pay for our new Town Hall.   There are financial benefits to paying it off sooner rather than later.

I have not given up on the goal of reducing property tax in the Town.

And most importantly, the Town tax millage and credit proposal will not increase anyone's tax burden.   And that has always been my primary commitment to the voters of the Town.

New Town Hall

The first Town purchased the property on Dills Bluff currently owned by the JIPSD for the site of a James Island Town Hall.   The Town is no longer threatened with losing everything we have built up.   We can finally move forward to achieve a goal set by our first Mayor, Joan Sooy, almost twenty years ago.

I greatly appreciate the past support of our current landlord, Ken Berlinsky.  This is especially true regarding his patience as the Town was closed in 2004, reopened in 2006, closed in 2011, and then reopened in 2012.   However, we are paying nearly $70,000 each year in rent.   I think it is time for us to instead start investing in a permanent home for the Town.

In the summer of 2014, I proposed that the Town and JIPSD build a joint administrative center on the Dills Bluff Property.   My plan was for them to own their part and we to own our part.    It seemed like a common sense, win-win, plan.  We thought that the District Manager, Robert Wise, and even then JIPSD Chairman Donald Hollingsworth, were supportive.     

At the February meeting of Town Council, I announced that it was time for the Town to go forward with building a Town Hall.   It was a major subject of discussion at the Budget Workshop in early March.   Every member of Council seemed supportive.   No member of Council proposed that we abandon or even delay building a Town Hall.   The major point of contention was whether my proposal to be a close neighbor with the JIPSD was feasible or even desirable.   Some members of Council raised concerns about the attitude of some Commissioners.     My view has always been that we should look forward to the next twenty years and realize that Mayors, Members of Council, and Commissioners come and go.   Still, while that was contentious, there was a clear consensus in favor of a new Town Hall.

This spring it became clear that the JIPSD was only interested in having the Town pay them rent.  There is no interest in shared ownership.   I offered to buy 2 acres from the 6.2 acre site.  There was never a clear answer.   So, the Town is looking at alternative sites.

The Town is currently reviewing the qualifications of architect and engineering firms to help us with this project.   I hope that we will be ready to select one at the August Council meeting.

One task for this firm will be a needs assessment.    I have been assuming that the Town Hall will be 25% to 50% larger than our current space.  That would be a new Town Hall that is between 5500 and 7000 square feet.   But that is just an estimate.  We will look at the needs assessment, though affordability is important.   We plan to ask for a design that will allow for additions in the future if needed.

The 2015-16 budget includes $200,000 for a building fund for the new Town Hall.   As the budget wound through the approval process, no member of Council objected, and the budget finally passed second reading at the June meeting.   The budget passed unanimously, including this partial funding for the new Town Hall.

$200,000 is not nearly enough to buy property and construct a new Town Hall.   At the February Council meeting, I explained that I was going to request authorization from Council to sell bonds.    As we began discussions with our bond attorney, we discovered that if the Town sells bonds, then state law requires that we put a bond millage on the tax bill.     My view was that the Town would be required to provide a tax credit against the tax liability created by the bond millage.   And required or not, that certainly is a better option than having Town taxpayers pay additional property tax.   My plan was to provide a tax credit sufficient to zero out any tax that our property owners would otherwise have to pay for the bonds issued to pay for Town Hall.

After further discussion with our attorneys, I determined that lease-purchase is a better option for the Town than bond finance.    Rather that approving the issue bonds and the required millage, Council approved introducing a millage for payment for real estate by lease purchase agreement and maintenance of a reserve.   The Town is required to provide a property tax credit against the tax liability this creates.   Council approved a tax credit large enough to zero out the tax liability for all taxpayers.

I am not concerned that the LOST funds the Town receives will "dry up," but it is possible that the revenues might suffer temporary decreases.   To continue zeroing out the tax bills, the millage might need to be adjusted.   In South Carolina, property tax millage must be passed again each year with the budget.   Not only can the millage be reduced, if Council fails to include it in the annual budget, then it goes away!     There is no doubt that the Town's lease payments will be affordable.  The question is how long will it take before enough lease payments have been made that the new Town Hall is fully paid off.    The sooner that happens, the sooner funds will be freed up for sidewalks and other community improvements.

Report on Special Meeting and Public Hearing

Town Council met on Thursday, July 23 at 6:00.  

There was a public hearing on the proposed budget amendment.   Two people spoke.   The first was  JIPSD Commissioner Kay Kernodle.   She said that she was just speaking to Council (not me.)   She said that the Town should hold several public hearings at several locations on the Island and then have a third reading of the budget amendment ordinance.  

The second speaker was Robin Welch   She said that there were very few people at the public hearing because I kept it secret.   She said that I could try to fool people with my fancy math, but the Town was introducing a new tax.  She said that I had promised never to introduce a tax, but that must have been a lie.   She said that the Town receives $3 million in Local Option Sales Tax money each year. She said that what I wasn't saying is that Mayor Clark sent every taxpayer on James Island a check every year, but that when I was elected the checks stopped.  

There being only two people who signed up to speak, I closed the public hearing.

Council then voted to approve spending $400 to support the James Island Charter High football booster club by paying to have a Town sign on the football field.

Council went into executive session.  Council returned.

Council voted 3-2 to adopt an ordinance providing for procedures to levy and collect a property tax.  There was no discussion.   Stokes, Blank and I voted in favor.   Milliken and Mullinax voted against.

Council voted 3-2 to adopt a budget amendment.   There was no discussion.   Stokes, Blank and I voted in favor.  Milliken and Mullinax voted against.

The budget amendment includes a 20 mil property tax, a tax credit of $2,948,058, expenditures of $840,000 for payment for Town Hall by lease purchase agreement, and $200,000 to maintain a reserve fund.

The amount of the tax credit, $2,948,058 is the amount of revenue the Town has received from the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) Property Tax Credit Fund since 2012, plus the interest we have earned on that money, plus the amount we expect to get during the 2015-16 fiscal year.

The property tax credit will zero out the property tax liability for all property taxpayers in the Town.   I asked Council to approve this because I believe that it is in the best interest of the Town to deal with LOST tax funds as do the majority of municipalities--by providing a tax credit against our own tax millage.

The millage will appear on the tax bill as will the amount of the tax credit.  However, the amount of tax collected will be zero.    Here is a copy of what the tax bill will look like.  (Most of the figures are from last year, but I updated the figures to show the increase in the JIPSD millage.   Changes in any other taxes on the bill for this year aren't shown.   The Assistant County Auditor verified that what the Town Council has approved will be reflected on the tax bill more or less as is shown.)

While the Town will not be causing any increase in anyone's property tax, I am disappointed that we have not been able to reduce property taxes.   I asked the JIPSD to reduce rather than increase their property tax in the Town and allow the Town to pay them for solid waste collection services by contract.   Unfortunately, the Town's proposal was never even brought up for a vote.

I have not given up, but I have given up for the 2015 tax year.   It is my assessment that there is little hope for a tax cut until after the JIPSD elections in November 2016, and that means the 2017 tax year.   At that time, hopefully there will be some new JIPSD Commissioners who will agree to reduce the taxes they impose on the Town and receive payment for solid waste collection services from the Town by contract.

Since the majority of JIPSD Commissioners refused to take the Town's money for solid waste collection services and prefer to increase the taxes they charge, what should the Town do with the money we would have spent to pay for solid waste collection?   I have agreed with other members of Council that it is in the best interest of the Town to no longer continue to accumulate LOST funds as we have for the last three years, but instead use the $840,000 that we expect to receive during the 2015-16 fiscal year to construct a new Town Hall.  I expect that the Town will do about the same thing for the 2016 tax year--making further progress in paying off Town Hall.

I hope that in 2017, I will be able to find a  majority of Town Council and JIPSD Commissioners that will adopt a plan to reduce the property tax the JIPSD imposes and allow the Town to pay for solid waste collection by contract.

There is a bit more to the story.

After close of business on Wednesday evening, our Town Attorney received an email from one of the out-of-town attorneys helping Trent Kernodle with his lawsuit against the Town.   The email said that if the Town did not postpone its vote on the budget amendment, they would seek a temporary injunction blocking the Town from spending or crediting any LOST funds until their lawsuit is resolved.   (With appeals, this could be several years.)   They insisted that the Town respond by 10:00 AM Thursday morning.   Of course, we refused.  Neither our Town Attorney nor I could agree to postpone a meeting and public hearing that was already scheduled or commit Council to vote to postpone consideration of an ordinance.

Kernodle has filed his temporary injunction.  There will be a hearing before a judge within the next few weeks.   This legal tactic was expected.

And that is why Trent Kernodle's wife and employee, Kay Kernodle, was at our meeting asking Council to hold more public hearings and have a third reading.  Robin Welch, daughter and employee of former JIPSD Commissioner Rod Welch, was there to help.  Rod Welch, along with Sandi and David Engelman, are all helping Kernodle sue the Town.

I think they are desperate to block the Town from providing a tax credit against its own millage exactly as do most municipalities in South Carolina.

Robin Welch, especially, made an effort to round up a crowd to show up to the public hearing.   Well, her sister showed up. 

The point of the suit is to force the Town to "mail the checks."   As Trent Kernodle said at the Mayoral debate, getting a check from the Town is just like Christmas.   He didn't win the election, but he and his political backers still think they can run the Town by lawsuit.

In my opinion, the majority of JIPSD Commissioners are refusing to work with the Town on property tax relief because they support Kernodle.   It is the same reason they refused to sell the Dills Bluff Property for the new library.  It is my understanding that Kernodle told them not to sell, and his backers on the Commission do what he says.

I am disappointed that the Town was unable to get the JIPSD to agree to a plan to reduce taxes, but  I want to assure everyone that the Town isn't increasing anyone's taxes.   Again, I hope that by 2017 the Town will have fought off the Kernodle legal attack and we will have new JIPSD Commissioners who will work with the Town to reduce your taxes.

Proposed Budget Amendment

I have asked Town Council to levy a 20 mil property tax for 2015 and provide a $2,948,058 tax credit.   It passed first reading at the July 9 meeting. 

I have scheduled a special meeting of Town Council and a public hearing for July 23 at 6:00.    Second and final reading is scheduled at that time.

If the budget amendment passes, there will be no additional tax collected by the Town.  The Town millage and tax credit will appear on the tax bill mailed by the County Auditor this fall.   The amount billed and paid by Town taxpayers to the County Treasurer on behalf of the Town will be zero.  

Here is an  example of what the 2015 tax bill would look like.

The budget amendment also includes $840,000 to pay for a new Town Hall by a lease purchase agreement and $200,000 to maintain a reserve fund.

If you have any concerns or questions please email me at mayorwoolsey@gmail.com or call me at 697-7020.

Town Council Meeting on July 9

Town Council is meeting on the second Thursday of July rather than our usual third Thursday because of the Municipal Association of South Carolina meetings.

Confederate Flag on Statehouse Grounds

The victims of the horrible crime at Mother Emmanuel AME have now been laid to rest, including Tywanza Sanders, who was a graduate of our own James Island Charter High School.   

The members of the South Carolina Legislature who represent James Island have all stated their support for removing the confederate flag from the statehouse grounds  

I have written Senator Campsen, Senator Thurmond, Representative McCoy and Representative Stavrinakis to share my personal support for their considered judgment.  

The Town does not fly any confederate flag, however, I anticipate such flags will  be flown from time to time at special events recognizing its role during an important period of the history of our Island.