NEWBERRY COUNTY COUNCIL

MINUTES

JULY 6, 2005

The Newberry County Council met on Wednesday, July 6, 2005, at 7:00 p.m. at the Newberry Opera House for a regular meeting.

Present were: Mike Hawkins, Chairman

William D. Waldrop, Vice-Chairman

John E. Caldwell, Councilman

Henry B. Summer, Councilman

John David Dawkins, Councilman

Andy Morris, Councilman

Edgar Baker, Councilman

Leonard B. Sossamon, Jr., County Administrator

Gary T. Pope, County Attorney

Susan C. Fellers, Clerk to Council

Media: Cindy Pitts, The Newberry Observer

Heather Hawkins, WKDK

Notice of the meeting was duly advertised as required by law.

Chairman Mike Hawkins called the meeting to order and determined a quorum to be present.

Henry B. Summer had the invocation followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

ADOPTION OF CONSENT AGENDA

A Resolution honoring the Butler Family was added to the consent agenda.

Mr. Morris moved to adopt the consent agenda as amended; second by Mr. Baker. Vote was unanimous.

ADDITIONS, DELETIONS AND ADOPTION OF AGENDA

Mr. Morris requested the postponement of second reading of Agenda Item No. 6 until the July 27 meeting since Mr. Pope has not had a chance to meet with the Clerk of Court.

Mr. Baker requested that Agenda Item No. 1 be postponed until after the County Council Emergency Services Board has had an opportunity to meet about amendments to the ordinance.

Mr. Sossamon requested the addition of an Inducement Resolution for an industry wishing to expand. (Agenda Item No. 9)

Mr. Pope requested the addition that both a legal and personnel matter be added to Executive Session. (Agenda Items 10 and 11)

There being no further additions or deletions, Mr. Morris moved to adopt the agenda as amended; second by Mr. Dawkins. Vote was unanimous.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

No comments.

THIRD READING ORDINANCES

1. An Ordinance to create an Emergency Services Board, and to provide for the membership thereof, and the powers and duties of the Board, and to dissolve the Board of Rural Fire Control and the Board of Rescue Squads, and to adopt the National Incident Management System as the local standard for emergency and incident response.

Postponed.

SECOND READING

2. An Ordinance to postpone the implementation of countywide reassessment and equalization until the 2006 tax year.

Mr. Hawkins called for the public hearing.

Wirt Jennings posed the following questions to Council:

1. What justifies the quantum leap from 40% of assessed market value to 80% to 105% of assessed market value?

2. Who developed the strategy for the 2005 reassessment?

3. Why does County Council not have anything to do with the assessment process?

4. Were lake residents targeted to bear a disproportionate share of the county operating budget than the rest of the county, and how can you reconcile that?

5. How many open checkbooks does County Council want?

6. Does County Council want to rule the county or represent the people who elected you?

Harold Broughton posed the following questions:

1. How do you explain no tax increase for Newberry County general fund over the past 4 years when my taxes have gone up 71.9%?

2. What criteria is used to rate a house and what is the rating scale?

3. What criteria is used to figure the cost per foot for water front property? Do you use where it is located on the lake? Is there a setback and is it used in the calculation? Is it in the back of a cove? Is it on the main body of Lake Murray or is it on the river?

4. How can the value of a house per square foot in one location, which has a lot of amenities offered by the County such as street lighting, curb and guttering, natural gas, county sewage and water, street signs, no set back and on the main body of Lake Murray in an upscale community, be less than living in a neighborhood with absolutely no amenities, a 75 foot setback and located on the river?

5. How can my taxes go up by 69% when the average lake property went up 44% and the average Newberry County taxes went up 36%?

Ruben F. Green, Mary Arrowood, Kenneth Brooks, and Ronnie Hydrick all spoke in support of postponing implementation of the reassessment. Ms. Arrowood handed out and explained information to Council regarding property sales and coding of sales.

Mr. Dawkins asked if Susie Berry, Newberry County Tax Assessor, was willing to respond to some of the questions.

Ms. Berry advised that she and her staff were trained and well qualified to appraise property. She explained the procedure used by the Department of Revenue for coding true property sales. Ms. Berry stated that if reassessment is postponed, residents would see a tax increase because the tax levy is going up. Agricultural property taxes will increase. We are focusing on reassessment rather than equalization, which shifts the tax burden evenly across the majority, and the appeals process takes care of the outlying situations.

Senator Ronnie Cromer advised a study committee, of which he is a member, will meet this month on the sales tax issue and possibly studying the Constitution to see if any constitutional amendments can be made to either not have the reassessment or make it a constitutional amendment where it can only go up by a certain amount.

Virgil Taylor asked if no house in Whitmire has ever sold for $100,000, how could his house be appraised at $106,000, his brother’s assessed at $113,000, and other peoples assessed at $114,000 to $120,000? Ms. Berry indicated there were sales out there for over $100,000 and that she would be happy to discuss this with him during the appeal time, which is the appropriate time to handle individual situations.

Mr. Sossamon presented information from Nancy Owen as to the affect of implementation of reassessment on motor vehicles. For example, the average market value of a motor vehicle in Newberry County is $5,700. If reassessment is implemented, there would be a $22 savings. On a $30,000 market value vehicle and reassessment is implemented, there would be a reduction in vehicle taxes of $120.

Ms. Berry addressed the matter of cost to Newberry County if implementation of reassessment is postponed. The 2004 tax roll would have to be recreated by Smith Data. Tax bills may not be able to go out until sometime in December. Ms. Berry predicted the third week in October would be the earliest her office could get the changes made even with putting all staff on overtime. A significant amount of work will have to be done to recreate the tax roll because it is now in the history files.

Howard Thomes asked Council to go ahead and do what was set out to do and give the State Legislature a chance to correct the reassessment problems.

Roger Eargle urged Council not to fix something until it is broke.

Several unidentified persons spoke in favor of postponement of the implementation of reassessment.

Mr. Hawkins declared the public hearing closed.

Mr. Dawkins moved for second reading; second by Mr. Morris.

Mr. Dawkins raised the issue of someone from the Assessor’s Office personally visiting every piece of property in Newberry County over a three year period. Ms. Berry stated that Bryan Bedenbaugh and Tommy Bowers of her office looked at every property to see if there were any changes.

Mr. Hawkins addressed some of the questions posed by citizens. The Department of Revenue has a formula, and the Assessor’s Office uses that formula. The Department of Revenue approved what our County Assessor had done. Regarding the issue of giving Council a blank check, the meeting was advertised publicly and everybody had a chance to come and speak. This gives Council permission if needed to exceed the CPI, but Council is not planning to exceed it. This is something required by the General Assembly. As to Mr. Broughton’s comments about why his taxes went up when Council didn’t vote for a millage increase, an answer will be obtained and announced at the next Council meeting.

Mr. Hawkins called for the vote. Vote for second reading was unanimous.

[BREAK 8:50 P.M. – 9:00 P.M.]

3. An Ordinance to amend the Official Zoning Map established pursuant to Zoning Ordinance No. 12-24-01 so as to rezone TMS Parcel Nos. 339-4-6, 339-4-8, 339-4-9, 339-4-10 and 339-4-11 from General Commercial (GC) to Single Family Residential (RS-3).

Mr. Hawkins called for the public hearing. The following persons signed up for the public hearing but passed at the time they were called: Danny and Alice Turner, Mike and Diane Howe, and Dorothy Havird.

Unidentified persons inquired as to the difference between RS-2 and RS-3. Anne Peters, Zoning Administrator, advised that RS-2 did not permit manufactured homes but RS-3 did. Some residents in the area came to Ms. Peters office and were upset that it was zoned General Commercial because they were trying to refinance the property. After looking at the property, it was obvious it was not appropriately zoned as General Commercial.

After discussions with these persons, the consensus was that they would reach an agreement as to whether they wanted the zoning changed to RS-3 or RS-2.

Mr. Hawkins declared the public hearing closed.

Mr. Baker moved for second reading; second by Mr. Dawkins. Vote was unanimous.

4. An Ordinance to amend the Official Zoning Map established pursuant to Zoning Ordinance No. 12-242-01 so as to rezone TMS Parcel Nos. 592-3-1 through 592-3-33 from Single Family Residential (RS-1) to Single Family Residential (RS-3).

Mr. Hawkins opened the public hearing.

Dennis Anderson and other unidentified persons spoke in favor of rezoning.

Mr. Hawkins declared the public hearing closed.

Mr. Dawkins moved for second reading; second by Mr. Baker. Vote was unanimous.

5. An Ordinance to amend the Official Zoning Map established pursuant to Zoning Ordinance No. 12-24-01 so as to rezone TMS Parcel No. 523-16 from Rural (R-2) to Light Industrial (LI).

Mr. Hawkins opened the public hearing. There being no comments from the public, Mr. Hawkins declared the public hearing closed.

Mr. Waldrop moved for second reading; second by Mr. Morris. Vote was unanimous.

6. An Ordinance to require that certain information be provided with deeds to certain types of real property in Newberry County as to the availability of existing sewer service or the ability of the property to support a private sewer system, and to provide penalties for the violation thereof.

Postponed.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

7. Committee Reports.

Mr. Dawkins advised that the County Council Emergency Services Committee met with the Board of Rescue Squads and a lot of good ideas and suggestions were made regarding changes to the ordinance. It may be a while before the ordinance gets back to County Council with revisions. The Committee also plans to meet with the Board of Rural Fire Control.

APPOINTMENTS

8. Appointments.

Mr. Dawkins recommended the following appointments from District 2:

Community Hall Commission – Tad Abraham

Disabilities and Special Needs – John Seibert

Library – Julie McLeod

Newberry County Memorial Hospital – Rebecca Pugh and Frank T. Brown

Planning Commission – Wayne Boland

Recreation Commission – Gerdi Lake and Jana Jayroe

Westview – Bobby Chapman

Mr. Summer recommended the following appointments from District 5:

Library – Verna Cavanaugh

There being no further recommendations, Mr. Baker moved to accept the recommendations; second by Mr. Morris. Vote was unanimous.

RESOLUTIONS

9. Inducement Resolution.

Mr. Pope advised an entity wished to make a significant investment in Newberry County. Certain incentives are being sought at the State level, which means they cannot announce the name of the industry at this time or it will squelch their ability to get the State incentives. They have asked that we give approval to the Resolution allowing them to go forward at the appropriate time with their investment and to take advantage of the Fee in Lieu of Taxes and some other incentives on a local level for making the investment in Newberry County. It will result in jobs and economic development for Newberry County.

Mr. Morris moved to adopt the Resolution; second by Mr. Dawkins. Vote was unanimous.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

Mr. Morris moved to go into Executive Session to discuss legal and personnel matters. Vote was unanimous. Mr. Hawkins requested that Senator Cromer join Council in Executive Session.

[EXECUTIVE SESSION 9:25 P.M. – 10:40 P.M.]

10. Legal.

11. Personnel.

Mr. Waldrop moved to return to regular session; second by Mr. Dawkins. Vote was unanimous.

Mr. Pope stated Council received legal advice on a personnel matter and legal advice related to a non-personnel matter.

FUTURE MEETINGS

Council meetings on July 27, 2005 and August 17, 2005 at 7:00 p.m.

COMMENTS FROM COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR

Mr. Sossamon introduced Diane Johnson, Interim Administrator, at J.F. Hawkins/Springfield Place.

COMMENTS FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS

No comments.

VOTE FOR ADJOURNMENT

Mr. Morris moved to adjourn; second by Mr. Baker. Vote was unanimous.

ADJOURNMENT

Meeting adjourned at 10:46 p.m.

NEWBERRY COUNTY COUNCIL

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Mike Hawkins, Chairman

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Susan C. Fellers, Clerk to Council