APPROVAL TO DISCONTINE CITY COMMERCIAL GARBAGE SERVICE – Council agree to discontinue providing commercial garbage services to companies within the City of Aiken. There are some issues still to be resolved regarding a few downtown businesses.
DISCUSSION OF ZERO BASED BUDGETING – Zero Based Budgeting is a technique that sets all budgets to nil at the beginning of the year and requires from the departments that they justify all of their expenditures, not just those exceeding the budget. Money is allocated to the departments based on merit and not based on the previous year budget plus or minus some percentage such as in many traditional budgeting systems.
I am delighted to report that City Council agreed to begin the process of zero base budgeting beginning in the October time frame. We will do so on a Department by Department basis. The public is invited to attend any or all of our meetings.
APPROVAL AND MODIFICATION OF LOCAL SALES TAX MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING – The Aiken County Tax Committee which is formed to evaluate and approve the final list of capital projects list for Aiken County Council met shortly before our Council Meeting began. They rejected all allocations that Aiken City Council had approved for non-profit agencies. Specifically they included $1 million for the SPCA, $350,000 for the African-American Center, $500,000 for the Teen Center, and $400,000 for the YMCA. Assistance City Manager Richard Pearce also reported that the Tax Committee retained the $200,000 previously allocated to the Railroad Depot based on his statement that the Railroad Depot would be a City facility before monies are raised from the extension of the Capital Sales Tax project if it is approved by voters in November.
As a result of the Committee’s rejections the City Council needed to re-allocate $2.25 million. We did so as follows: $1 million to Animal Control, $500,000 to Open Space, $150,000 for Hopelands/Rye Patch Building Renovations ,$300,000 to Renovate Existing Public Safety Headquarters, and $300,000 for the Railroad Depot. The County Tax Committee must meet one more time to give final approval for this list. If the Committee rejects the additional $300,000 for the Railroad Depot as well as the $200,000 already approved by the committee the City Council has voted to allocate the entire unallocated $500,000 to Water/Sewer Infrastructure. The Tax Committee is scheduled to meet on Monday, July 26 at 6:00 P. M. at Aiken County Chambers.
The issue of using public money for the Railroad Depot is both historic and emotional. It is historic because there are some in our community who feel that the building of the railroad depot replica is of significant historical importance and ought to be remembered in some way. In fact, many in our community have felt strongly enough about this project to contribute personal funds to the project. These private contributions represent a significant percent of the total needed to complete the construction. It is emotional because there are many in the community who do not feel that public money should have been used to construct this facility. That said, it must be noted that City Council has continually supported the use of public money for this building since the process began in 1999. It voted to allocate $250,000 in Accommodations Tax money and to assume responsibility for maintenance of the building (now estimated to be approximately $75,000 to $100,000 per year). The City Tourism Office will be located in the building.
Jane Vaughters and Dick Smith consistently opposed the use of public money and were outvoted by a 5-2 margin. During my campaign, I heard clearly from many residents that they did not favor using public money for the Railroad Depot. Both Reggie Ebner and I have voted against using public money for this project at every opportunity. We first voted against the inclusion of $200,000 for the depot in Capital Project Sales Tax and then again against the additional $300,000 for this same program at our last meeting.
It is clear that the Railroad Depot building will become a city building in the near future. It was built on City land with Council’s concurrence ( tacitly or formally). Council will be asked to vote to accept ownership of the building at our August or September meeting and the votes are there to approve the request. I have objected to the fact that this project has not been part of our budget process and has used a “back door” for approval. Long term planning and financial management controls have been questionable given the relationship of the Aiken Corporation to the City of Aiken. Keep in mind that the Aiken Corporation is an outgrowth of the Aiken Downtown Development Association (ADDA) and was established to diversify and expand the City’s economic base and improve the quality of life in Aiken. It was established as a non-profit development corporation and a public-private partnership between the Aiken Corporation and the City of Aiken. On their own, they have initiated several projects for which the City has had to assume some financial responsibility. Several members of City staff are and have been active participants with the Aiken Corporation for many years.
I am also concerned that approval of the Local Option Sales Tax Program is in jeopardy because this project is included. While the $500,000 represents a small fraction of the total of approximately $138 million, some in the community may not vote to renew the Capital Sales Tax measure expected to be on the November ballot.
My email contained a list of the approved projects. It is not possible to include the list in this posting. If you want a copy of the approved list, please email me at fastwalk1@gforcecable.com and I will send it to you.
PRAYER BEFORE COUNCIL MEETINGS – The Aiken Standard has reported that the City received a letter from the Freedom From Religion Foundation objecting to the prayer before our Council meetings. While we will make some changes to procedures, our intent is to continue to say a prayer before each Council meeting and to do so in compliance with all laws. We will follow the practice in use by the South Carolina Legislature.
TELEVISING COUNCIL MEETINGS – Last week the City of Rock Hill was recognized by the Municipal Association of South Carolina for upgrading their local access television channel. They have improved the televising of their City Council meetings and are looking for other ways to make Rock Hill government more transparent.
As many may have noticed, the Aiken Standard no longer televises City Council meetings on a regular basis. They have told me that the will televise future meetings as their schedule permits.
I investigated a contract with a private vendor, but determined it to be too expensive at this time. They would have put our City Council meetings on the web and made them available on demand on a 24 hour basis.
I could use some help on this issue. If you want to view our City Council meetings on our local access Channel (4) or want to view them on the web, please let members of the Council know your views. When they only hear from one or two Councilmembers on an issue, they don’t feel compelled to take action. We could also televise Planning Commission, Design Review Board, Board of Zoning Appeals and other meetings of importance. My goal is to make our city operations as transparent as possible.
NEXT COUNCIL MEETING – Our next Aiken City Council meeting will be on August 9, 2010. I will send an update before then highlighting our agenda.
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