NEWBERRY COUNTY — Annually the Newberry County Farm Bureau holds a Legislative Banquet, during this year’s banquet, political leaders talked about major issues that will have an impact on those within the county.
Senator Ronnie Cromer started the banquet off with some reminders of last year’s session at the State House. One example was a bill that rolled back some of the regulatory burdens, Cromer said, that was placed on poultry producers in South Carolina.
“Made it a lot easier for the guys who grow chickens and are in the egg business,” he said.
This year, one of the big issues at the State House is education reform, according to Cromer. One way they are looking to reform education in South Carolina is by reducing the amount of paperwork that teachers have to do right now. They are also trying to reduce the number of standardized tests that are given out.
“We all think, including the teachers, that they spend too much time testing. You’ve got to test students to know where they are, but we are doing too much of that in schools now, and they are all mandated by the state,” Cromer said.
Cromer added that they are looking at raises for teachers. He said they are trying to get the starting salaries up to at least, or above, the south east standard. They are also looking at raises for regular state employees.
Cromer also discussed a recent bill that passed in the Senate that involved the death sentence. According to Cromer, in the last couple of years no one has been put to death in South Carolina.
“The problem is some of the attorneys in the House and the Senate will hold the Bill up because they want to be able to sue if there is a problem, and also some of the folks like to bring attention to the pharmaceutical companies that actually sell the drugs to the state of South Carolina,” Cromer said.
The Senate passed a Bill that says a prisoner has a choice of a firing squad, electrocution or death by lethal injection, if the medicine is available.
Another issue the Senate will face this year is Santee Cooper.
“The elephant in the room for this coming year, last year spent the whole session debating SCANA and Dominion. This year Santee Cooper, they’ve already had about six or eight meetings with a committee of Senate and House members,” Cromer said.
That committee commissioned a report from a company in Virginia, and it is Cromer’s understanding that they have eight or nine entities that are interested in purchasing Santee Cooper.
“I’ll tell you where I come from, if state government was trying to get into the power business now, and compete against public companies, I’d vote against it. But it was established in the 30’s when you couldn’t get power to rural communities, served its purpose,” Cromer said. “We’ve used Santee Cooper to help bring in and recruit new industries in South Carolina to keep rates down. At the current time, unless it is an excellent deal that we can pay down the nine billion dollars in debt Santee Cooper has and also assure the rates would not go up, maybe even go down, then I might consider it, but right now, no.”
Newberry County Administrator Wayne Adams gave updates on the local level, including an update on the Penny Sales Tax Projects that were county specific.
First up is the 800 MHz Radio System for Emergency Services ($7.4 million).
“This project, which was the lead project on the 2016 ballot is now nearing completion, and most of its benefits are largely being realized. We are now building the final tower in Whitmire. Other towers are in Silverstreet, Chappells, Stoney Hill and at Consolidated Fire Department. Fire, Rescue, EMS, Sheriff’s Department and all town police departments are on this system, and the reports from users indicate dramatically better radio communications,” Adams said.
Sheriff Lee Foster echoed this, saying the radio is one of the best things the county has done for public safety in a long time.
The next project is the Detention Center renovations ($1.6 million). This was a project required by the S.C. Department of Corrections, and is now largely complete. The remaining work relates to the old magistrates’ office, not with issues pertaining to housing the inmates.
The Newberry County Museum ($2.2 million). This project is 80 percent complete, with plans for the museum to be completed in April.
The Underground Water Storage Points, Consolidated Fire Department (one million dollars).
“Of the 10 sites originally proposed for the 40,000-gallon underground water storage tanks, to date we have plats and easements for only half of them,” Adams said. “At least one property owner has backed out. In another case, there was a death and now numerous heirs are involved.”
The Magistrates’ Office, not a CPST project, has been relocated to 833 Main Street, the old S.C. Works Building. This is a 9,000 square foot building that the County purchased from the State. This new site will have increased parking, with 72 spaces.
Another issue Adams addressed was a recent Facebook story making the rounds saying Newberry County has the highest property taxes in the state.
“This prompted our staff to conduct a study using the 2018 guide to property taxation in all 46 counties published by the South Carolina Association of Counties. We looked at taxes and fees on a $150,000 home; Newberry County was 17th highest. We also looked at taxes and fees on a $15,000 car; Newberry County was 16th highest,” Adams said. “Two of the big drivers not considered by Facebook story were ‘additional millages’ and fees. Newberry County does not have either. Our base millage is our total millage. We don’t have solid waste fees, road maintenance fees, fire fees. Unlike some other counties we don’t have additional millage levies for fire service and recreation.”
Adams then compared Newberry County to neighboring counties. According to Adams, on a $150,000 owner-occupied home, Fairfield, Saluda, Lexington, Union and Richland counties all had greater total tax liability than Newberry County, while Laurens and Greenwood were lower. On a $15,000 vehicle, Newberry was fifth highest among the eight counties, with Laurens, Union and Greenwood being lower.
“Newberry County is not even in the top 15 most heavily taxed counties; and we are a little lower than average when compared to the seven counties that share borders with us,” Adams said.
Other speakers during the banquet included Jody Hamm, chairman of the Newberry County School Board, who revealed Newberry County’s graduation rate is 88.1 percent, compared to the state level of 81 percent. Mayor Foster Senn (Newberry) gave an update on new businesses coming to Newberry this year, including The Aviator Karaoke Bar and Home2 Suites. Mayor Derek Underwood (Prosperity) discussed the paving of Main Street in Prosperity, and how they are working to make Prosperity a destination, not a pass through.
