Fails for Lack of Motion

The proposed project list for the 1% Capital Sales Tax was presented to Edgefield County Council, Tuesday evening, Apr. 1.  This was the project list’s first presentation and was billed as its first reading on the Council’s agenda.  However, the project will be receiving no further readings as it failed to move forward for lack of a motion.  Not one Council member spoke in favor of supporting the list which was presented by Craig McMullen, Vice-Chairman of the Sales Tax Commission (Chairman Thomas McCain was unable to attend the meeting.) 

Council member Norman Dorn opened the discussion of the project list by adamantly declaring his opposition to it stating he was “not participating [in its support] … period.”  Council Chairman Dean Campbell thanked the commission for their hard work, time, and consideration, but he, too, did not lend support to the project list stating he did not feel it would pass with voters.  Mr. Campbell said that while “no list is perfect”  and this one included “needs but some wants,” he stated he did feel the list was put together with the right perspective in mind.  Councilwoman Genia Blackwell agreed with the idea the list included needs and wants and said she found it “very concerning” that the wants outweighed the needs.  She added that she was also not supportive of the time frame the project would cover saying eight years was a long time to commit the county to this tax especially when the needs of the county are likely change over that time period.  Councilman Rodney Ashcraft agreed that eight years was too long to commit to the tax and said he could not support the measure either.  Councilwoman Betty Butler was not in attendance, but even if she had lent her support to this project, it would have failed for lack of majority support.

The project list presented to Council consisted of 12 projects and was compiled by a citizen commission appointed by County Council and the Towns of Edgefield and Johnston.  Commission members included Thomas McCain, Craig McMullen, Jeff Britt, Donna Livingston, Thomas Nidiffer, and Beth Worth.  The commission has been working since November of 2013 to put together a project list for Council‘s consideration.  Council did not comment on whether or not they will again pursue this matter in the future.