Georgetown County
Council members seek to end sales tax plan over representation
Georgetown County Council is due to vote today on a resolution to stop work on a capital projects sales tax. It follows complaints made last month by Council Members Everett Carolina and Raymond Newton that the town of Andrews isn’t represented on the tax commission.
The council meeting was postponed from Tuesday due to storm threats. Its meeting today at the Howard Center in Georgetown forced the Capital Projects Sales Tax Commission to cancel its planned meeting in the facility.
Under state law, the six-member commission draws up a the ballot for a referendum on the 1-cent tax. Three of the members are appointed by the County Council. The other seats are for municipalities and are based on population.
Georgetown got two seats. Neither Andrews nor Pawleys Island was large enough to qualify for a seat so, under the state law, the two members from Georgetown selected the third municipal representative. They picked Mark Hawn, the nominee from Pawleys Island who is a managing partner with EY Consulting, formerly known as Ernst & Young.
The commission last week selected Hawn as its chairman. He said his goal is to “make the western part of the county feel listened to and engaged.”
Frank McClary, the mayor of Andrews, attended the commission meeting last week. He said Hawn was a good choice for chairman, but he still had concerns about representation.
Hawn suggested that the final list of projects need to align with the county’s long-term goals and strategies. That was endorsed by Robert Crenshaw, the only member from the western part of the county.
But McClary said it is possible that a project from Andrews might not be within the scope of the county’s goals
“The No. 1 issue to me is fair representation,” Carolina said, adding that officials and residents told him they don’t feel represented by the current commission.
Commission member Gary Cooper, who lives at Pawleys Island, said he understands. He grew up in the Andrews area.
“I grew up not liking Georgetown,” he told his colleagues last week. “I remember not liking Pawleys Island.”
In the end, he said that he discovered, “they’re just like us.”
Newton said last month that he thinks highly of Cooper, but that his presence on the commission wasn’t sufficient.
“What’s being said is ‘trust us. We’ll do the best thing for Andrews,’” Carolina said. “These people are going to have to get on the bus and go listen to the people.”
The commission, if it still exists, plans to meet in Andrews on Jan. 25.
