This November, our County Council will be asking us to approve a new Transportation Sales Tax, which will cost us 1% on all taxable sales for the next 10 years.
My questions are three (3) to you, the voter:
Question #1 – Can we trust the County when there are allegations of ethics violations and malfeasance by County employees of County (taxpayer) funds? There is an unreleased investigative report. It has not been released to the public in full, much less to the County Sheriff, for further criminal investigation. Instead, 34 pages have been edited and crafted down to a mere 6 pages, and released to the public as if it was the full report. What is in the full 34 pages that they fear?
Question #2 – Why is County Council including the projects already approved and paid for under the 2018 Transportation Sales Tax Referendum? Why would we pay twice for the same items? What happened to the referendum’s unspent funds?
Question #3 – Why did County Council hire attorneys/investigators as personal attorneys to Council, not as investigators for County Government? They were hired to investigate corruption, malfeasance and ethic violations by county employees and officials. Why did County Council need Attorney/Client Privilege? What are they hiding?
County Council prays you won’t look into this before you vote in November. I’ve laid the questions before you, so let’s look into the weeds.
County Council hired outside council from the law firm of Haynesworth, Sinkler and Boyd, P.A. (HSB) and Swiftwater Strategies, LLC. Their job was to investigate all of the procurements of 2023 and all “P-Card” (purchase card purchases) from 2019 to 2023. The Island Packet/Beaufort Gazette as well as the Island News reported on 9 malfeasance and ethics violations dealing with these transactions.
Now, here is where it gets curious. The HSB report sits in a locked room on the 2nd floor of county offices. Access is granted only to supervised County Council Members. All electronic devices are left outside the room. No note taking or copying of any document is allowed and access is limited, as I understand, from confidential sources.
County Council has released a truncated version of the 34 page report in their last meeting, totaling 6 pages. That in itself, should disturb every taxpaying voter. It involves over $1 Billion in spending and/or procurements. They call malfeasance, misfeasance. They list a multitude of procedural and regulation mishandling that employees either chose to ignore willfully or by laziness.
The Island Packet/Beaufort Gazette has several articles of County Officials utilizing county resources for personal gain on private property improvements. The report references use of the P-Card for questionable procurements and other questionable purchasing.
In a July 26, 2024 Beaufort Gazette/Island Packet article by Sebastian Lee, titled “Beaufort County Stonewalls Angry Sheriff: There’s nothing transparent about this”, he quotes Sheriff P. J. Tanner. He said, “They just don’t want you (the public) to know the details, and obviously they don’t want law enforcement to have or know the details surrounding the issues of Beaufort County for the past couple of years”. He continues, “The county has never provided us anything. They circled the wagons early on and it’s been like that for a year.”
What else are they hiding in the report?
Now, here’s the kicker. Who paid for the report? Did you and I pay for it with our tax dollars?
My question is, if an investigation of County corruption is initiated by County Council, using taxpayer money, who is the client? County Council or the taxpayer? Does County Council have Attorney Client Privilege? If we paid for this report, would that make us, the taxpayer, the true client?
Release the report and let the chips fall where they may. How can County Council ask us for a new tax if they can’t keep their own house clean or be truly transparent with the voters?
How can County Council justify asking us to vote for a referendum with projects we already paid for in the 2018 Transportation Sales Tax. Less than 20% of the projects have been completed. A mere 4 out of 34 Projects are complete. Most of the projects remaining are either in “Pre-Design” or “Design” stages.
What is happening in Charleston County, should be a cautionary warning to Beaufort County Council. A lawsuit filed last month by Mary Edna Fraser, Glenda Miller and Coastal Conservation League, represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, alleges their 2024 Sales Tax Referendum didn’t meet transparency requirements under South Carolina Law. None of the projects are guaranteed to be completed. Additionally, it required taxpayers to pay again for projects not completed under a previous referendum.
Sound familiar, Beaufortonians?
During one of the public events promoting/educating voters on the 2024 TST at County Council chambers, I questioned why the 2018 projects were not in more advanced stages of completion, and why are they asking us to pay for them again?
The answer was COVID held up projects and inflation caused cost overruns.
Funny, during the COVID closures, most people were able to work remotely from home. Rather than meeting in person, applications like SKYPE and ZOOM allowed people to gather inexpensively, and complete tasks. Therefore, the County has no excuse for so many projects in “Pre-Design” or “Design” phases. The actual construction phase is outdoor work, where COVID restrictions and recommendations were far more relaxed or non-existent, compared to indoor activities.
With the 2018 TST, how were the cost basis of the projects calculated? How were they estimated? What was the bidding, and were the contractors held to projected costs? Was consideration given to using Federal or State Funds to offset project costs? Was proper research about project requirements for State and Federal Funding done, and those requirements incorporated into the 2018 TST projects? For this last question, the answer is no. Federal and State funds and Grants were denied, as the projects did not meet their standards/requirements.
Where is the transparency? What has County Council and management done to correct these issues? This is why voters shouldn’t trust County Council with the new 2024 TST Referendum.
The 2024 TST Referendum has two additional slush funds, with no specified projects and for unnamed current and future projects. How did they come up with the numbers? Municipalities were assigned appropriations for unnamed projects. How were these numbers reached? In the June 4th emergency meeting of the Public Facilities and Safety Committee, they came up with the final breakdown. There is no detailed breakdown or review of options. It is a slush fund gifted to each municipality. They moved hundreds of millions of dollars around with 20 here or maybe 40 there. They used option 3 of the pared down original $1.65 billion referendum as the start. That option had NO money for municipalities. Replay of that meeting at about the 1 hour 10 minute segment is very interesting.
Almost all of the 2024 TST projects have multi-use walkways and bike paths. Many are roads with very little to no bike or pedestrian traffic. Were traffic studies done, to justify their needs? In 2018, it was estimated one (1) mile of these paths would cost $1.8 Million. What is the per mile cost today? How much money could be saved if they are removed from some of the projects?
Recently, County Council dedicated the gasoline tax for road improvements. Funds are used by the County Transportation Committee for roadway maintenance, repaving, and paving of dirt roads. What is the overlap and how is this coordinated?
In recent public relations outreach, County Council presented the 2024 TST Referendum. They asserted that the majority of the 1% sales tax increase will be paid for by tourists. A recent report from the College of Charleston listed the numbers of tourist revenue for Beaufort County. Doing the math, I came up with less than 10% of sales tax from tourism. Over 90% is from you.
This is the tip of the iceberg of the debacle called the 2024 TST Referendum. Yes, County Council hired a new County Manager in Michael Moore. However, before we pass a new sales tax, let’s let Mr. Moore clean house and implement changes to guarantee transparency, accountability, and fiscal restraint.
Let’s get the 2018 TST Projects completed and the 2024 TST Projects pared down to what is necessary, not full of slush funds and dream projects. Let’s get out of this period of inflation before asking for a revised and reasonable referendum.
County Council shouldn’t threaten the taxpayers with a property tax increase if the 2024 TST Referendum fails. In fact, looking at my property tax, a 10% increase is less than $100 per year for my household. A proposed 1% Sales Tax is easily ten (10) times that amount per household. So, County Council, act on that threat. Every person and household in Beaufort County will save a heap of money each year for the next ten (10) years.
But folks, just wait and watch. Even if this Referendum fails to pass, the County is already planning a Capital Improvement 1% Sales Tax. Tax for Capital Improvements is already deducted from you, whenever you register, and renew your vehicle and boat registrations.
This is a poorly written, ill conceived tax referendum, at the wrong time, with a badly managed county government, by a hard of hearing County Council. It’s time, we demand transparency, and accountability. It’s time we reject this referendum for a streamlined project list that benefits the county and prepares responsibly.
We need to loudly tell the County Council to stop double dipping, fix their lax standards for county procurement and other spending, and increase transparency and public trust. Maybe it’s time to vote the bums out and support real representatives of “We The People”!
Ann Marie Ubelis
Private cell 843-263-4919
Chair & co-founder, Beaufort TEA Party, SC, since 2009
Host & Producer, Southern Sense Talk podcast, Since 2010
Ann Ubelis is a former business owner/manager, retired law enforcement officer and a political activist and commentator. Her podcast has featured former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, Judge Jeanine Pirro and recently, Trump advisor Peter Navarro. Her guests range from local individuals to State and Federal Politicians, Major Celebrities, and Advocates.
Has the state’s Attorney General been informed? Seems that should be the next step.