County may raise vehicle and property fees
By Samantha Lyles, Staff Writer, slyles@newsandpress.net
Darlington County vehicle and property owners may be paying a bit more in fees next year if County Council approves a plan proposed in an April 4 work session.
County administrator Charles Stewart explained that since EMS Ambulance Service fees annually yield five percent above the total prior fiscal year’s budget, state law requires the county to establish a separate Emergency Services fund, segregated from the general fund. The new fund would include EMS, 911 Central Communications, and Emergency Preparedness.
This fund would also allow the county to assess new fees – such as the proposed vehicle and residential EMS fee increases – in order to meet the county’s funding needs. With the current proposed budget, Stewart said the county would either need to transfer just over $1.4 million from the general fund to cover expenses, or establish fee increases of $15 per vehicle and $20 per residence, which would yield the same amount.
The new revenues are needed to cover expenses on the horizon, such as a mandatory two-percent state retirement contribution increase ($265,000), three new guards at the Detention Center (bringing the county closer to PREA compliance at a cost of $100,000), a new IT position ($40,000), and a 2.5 percent raise for all employees ($323,000).
Stewart observed that this 2.5 percent increase would provide back a portion of take home wages that employees have lost since 2012 through mandatory retirement contribution increases and health care costs. He called it a LOLA (Loss of Living Adjustment) rather than a COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment), which the county hasn’t provided in five years.
Those increased retirement contributions place a burden on both the employees and the county, Stewart said, pointing out that retirement contributions will require an additional $3.5 million from 2018 to 2023.
With a shrinking county population, even a maximum allowable CPI increase of 1.26 percent will only yield about $260,000 in new property tax revenues, so Darlington County has to find another way to pay these rising costs. Hence, the increased EMS fees, which would be set at $45 per vehicle and $80 per residence.
Stewart stressed to Council that the county must also stop raiding the fund balance to make up for annual revenue/expense shortfalls, and should focus on stabilizing this ‘rainy day’ fund. Stewart said that if the county stops dipping into the fund balance, it could return to the healthy levels of 2011/12 within four years.
Council member Lewis Brown voiced support for this plan, saying that the county “can’t live out of a savings account” and can’t live planning its budgets just one year at a time.
Other additions to this year’s budget include $10,000 for Darlington County Sheriff’s Office overtime costs, adding a fire marshal to the Darlington County Fire District, adding two landfill attendants and a full time mechanic to the Environmental Services department, and returning a compliance and training position for EMS to review medical charts and perform DHEC-required quality assurance functions.
The proposed general fund budget for FY 2018 stands at $21.3 million, including $5.3 million for the Darlington County Sheriff’s Office and $3.7 million for the W. Glenn Campbell Correctional Center.
Other proposed departmental budgets include $829,160 for the Emergency Telephone Fund, $1.3 million for the County Library Fund, $3.2 million for Environmental Services, $1.9 million for the Fire District, $3.8 million for Emergency Services, $482,335 for the Airport Fund, $55,525 for the State Accommodations Tax Fund, $324,716 for the Hospitality Tax Fund, $1.6 million for Road Maintenance, and $475,000 for the Hartsville Fire Protection District.
Stewart urged Council to examine the budget thoroughly and make any proposed amendments in advance of their next regular meeting, at which the budget will come up for second reading. That meeting is scheduled for May 1 at 6 p.m. at the Courthouse Annex located at 1625 Harry Byrd Hwy in Darlington. The meeting will be open to the public.