• County Councilman Butch Kirven's viewpoint

Mayors from six Greenville municipalities came to County Council expecting a lot more than they were given. And what they received was not what they wanted.

The mayors – from Greer, Greenville, Fountain Inn, Mauldin, Simpsonville and Travelers Rest – learned the millage of 4.6 would be levied on their citizens to pay for, what County Council has figured, their share for the creation of the Greenville County Department of Parks and Recreation. About $2.6 million will be gained, with about $200,000 refunded to other municipalities as a millage rebate.

The mayors were not given a plan of when the millage would be assessed, although it will not be a line item tax. Instead county council agreed to disguise the tax in the general tax bill. Citizens in the effected municipalities can expect to pay an extra $27 per person versus the $20 reported earlier in the year when County Council swiftly put together a resolution that took one vote to pass. Residents outside the affected cities would receive approximately a $10 rebate.

The message most mayors emphasized to County Council was their disappointment no discussions were held with the municipalities during the legislative process of the intent to create a countywide recreation department.

Some Greer City Council members, in June, asked for a legal opinion from the city attorney for an option to challenge the recreation deal. City Council has not discussed that request. 

“The issue has been that nobody ever came to us to discuss that before this plan was set in motion and we didn’t have the opportunity to engage in any kind of meaningful conversation prior to finding out that this consolidation was in the works,” Greer Mayor Rick Danner told county council.

In June, Greenville County Council approved a resolution dissolving the Greenville County Recreation District (a special purpose tax district) and provided for the creation of the Greenville County Department of Parks and Recreation. It kept intact the commissioners of the GCRD although councilman Butch Kirven said the seven-member, all-male commission continues in an advisory capacity. Kirven said membership is by application process and there is no plan to diversify the group.

It wasn’t until halfway through the two-hour session that council alluded to the 4.6 millage. The mayors, expected to hear how the funds would be distributed, were told there was no plan as yet.

“Certainly because the fact the millage needs to be set, we sort of feel like our back is against the wall here in terms of what we need to communicate to our communities,” Danner said.

Simpsonville Mayor Perry Eichor said, “My most important question is what will I tell my citizens they are getting once they see that tax increase, and what are they getting different.”

Eichor said he perused the recreation funds ledger and found that, “it is overcapitalized and underfunded and now (the county) is asking citizens of Greenville, Greer, Mauldin and Simpsonville to help pay that bill.”

Danner told council, “We’ve never been opposed to looking at a system that would bring about a quality level of recreational services throughout the county. While many (mayors) sitting at this table operate their own recreation departments and are very proud of the level of services that they offer, that has never been the issue.”

Greenville Mayor Knox White asked, “Is there some idea for a transition period where we can work things out. What will I tell my citizens when they see that tax increase? It doesn’t appear we will get that answer tonight.”

Danner said there was reciprocal costs that Greer and council realized with both facilities used by outside residents. “We understood that the system allows for some tradeoffs in that regard. And that’s why I think there was some basis for us to sit down and talk.

“If somebody would have come to us and said ‘here is an issue that needs to be addressed, how can we all work better the recreational offerings that occur in the county through a collaboration between the cities and the county, I think there could have been some open dialogue.

“Now we find ourselves at a point that within a matter of days, certainly weeks, our citizens are going to be seeing (the mayors of Greenville, Greer, Mauldin and Simpsonville) trying to explain to our citizens why we are going to be seeing a tax increase from the county that none of us – council or mayor – are going to explain to them in detail what they are going to receive for this.”

Danner pointed out that Greer has routinely opted out of participating with Greenville or Spartanburg county’s recreation programs. State law allows Greer to opt-out with Spartanburg. Until this year Greer also chose to opt-out in Greenville County.

Danner appeared to restrain his comments, except for the issue of funding the since defunct GCRD. “Essentially we are talking about taking a very small percentage of the tax increase or the tax that is going to be generated and rolling it back for a very large number of county residents. Why are you are going to take the 100,000 residents of those municipalities and raise $4 million of taxes off them? You are hanging a tax increase on citizens who subsidize the errors of the former recreation district that doesn’t follow a budget. We just don’t feel that’s right for what we are getting for that money in return.”

Danner told council his frustration was, “I do not know why we didn’t start this process a year ago, a year and a half ago or two years ago when we could have crafted a solution that would have worked for all of us and we could have taken it to our people and said, ‘Here’s the plan, here’s the process, here’s the tax increase and here’s what you are going to get for your money. We don’t have answers to any of that as of tonight.”

© Copyright 2011-2024 Greer Today. All Rights Reserved.   Site Design by YourMark.com