Roll call

Chair Paul Livingston, Vice Chair Damon Jeter, Val Hutchinson, Norman Jackson, Bill Malinowski, Jim Manning, Greg Pearce, Kit Smith, and Kelvin Washington were present for the Richland County Council meeting June 16. Gwendolyn Kennedy and Joyce Dickerson were absent.

Minutes from last meeting

Greg Pearce opened the night's festivities by asking for reconsideration of the budget ordinance from the previous meeting, which was passed after many hours of discussion. Pearce's request was approved. Bill Malinowski had several corrections from the minutes from the last meeting and Jim Manning had one correction.

Administrator's report

Jennifer Dowden announced that12 citizens completed this year's version of Richland 101, the popular six week training class that explains how the county government works. This session had four county employees among the attendees.

Heather Brown was chosen to speak for the group. She said she greatly enjoyed attending, and as a county employee, citizen, and student the class was an insightful experience, and she suggested all county employees enroll in Richland 101.

Pearce gave the council and public an update on his recent trip to Washington as part of a group of area agencies banding together to try to secure funding for projects. Representatives from Richland and Lexington Counties, Columbia, USC, and the area Chamber of Commerce were able to meet with all the state's legislative members to gain support for projects that benefit the Midlands.

Stimulus Ad Hoc

Joe Cronin and Valeria Jackson gave the council an update on stimulus money status and asked for approval to move forward on several stimulus funding requests. Some of the targeted projects include a paving project to support Habitat for Humanity, an Urban League request for funding a summer camp for at risk kids, and a project to reestablish neighborhoods by buying vacant and foreclosed properties. The next target is an Energy Department program to receive up to $5 million for green projects.

Budget do-over

It seems the discrepancy that was discussed in the budget portion of the last council meeting was a reality. The county auditor had incorrectly figured the carry forward money in his millage calculations and his cap figure had to be adjusted. He offered corrected numbers.

The council withstood the urge to redo all county agency numbers tied to the cap and passed the original dollar figures for all groups except for Richland School Districts One and Two. For those budgets, Manning read a two page proposal to not only fund the school districts to the allowed cap, but revisit numbers, tax collections, and auditor calculations from the last several years to insure the council is being fair to both the taxpayers and school districts and also comply with Act 388, the state legislative rule that caps expenditures on a going forward basis. The law was designed to keep taxes low, but it primarily puts pressure on counties to stay as close to the cap as possible. Any miscalculation will result in under funding for perpetuity.

Manning's proposal was impressive in its all- encompassing scope and not only funds current school districts, but it allows the council to put some order into Act 388 in the future, something previous councils were unable to do.

Citizen's input

Andy Koin spoke to the council about the homeowner's association for Reflections. He said the group is not responsive to the needs of the community and is engaging in questionable activities. Koin has a long history of conflict with the Reflections association having discussed problems with county inspectors, state legislators, and Governor Sanford.

After several items were discussed in executive session the meeting was adjourned.