Georgetown County
Council spending takes bite out of surplus
Georgetown County completed its purchase of the historic Customs House in Georgetown earlier this month.
The county drew on $6.06 million of its reserves to buy the 120-year-old building and renovate it for use as administrative offices. It’s one of several purchases County Council approved from its fund balances this week. More are planned.
The council voted 4-3 earlier this month to buy the building at 1001 Front St. that once served as the Customs House and Post Office for Georgetown. The building has also been used as a bank, regional government offices, the Chamber of Commerce visitors center and, most recently, law offices.
The building is adjacent to the waterfront Rainey Park and close to the former steel mill site that is due for redevelopment. It’s across the harbor from the former state port that the county plans to redevelop.
“This stretch of our waterfront is on the edge of something significant,” Council Chairman Clint Elliott said.
The Customs House went on the market last year, and the council saw it as an opportunity, he said.
“It’s a very bold statement,” Administrator Angela Christian said. “We have a very bold council.”
Bringing the building back into public ownership will help make sure it is preserved, she said.
The purchase price, $5.55 million according to the deed, includes the furnishings and historic photos. The county also negotiated concessions for repairs and other credits that made the amount paid at closing $5.43 million.
The county plans to sell the 19th century building across from the courthouse that currently houses its administrative offices along with two other nearby buildings. But Elliott said it had the money in its reserves to make the purchase.
The county had $29 million in its general fund balance at the start of the fiscal year, according to the latest audit report. That was almost twice what county policy requires and prompted some questions from council members.
But Christian said the county had plans to use the portion of its reserves that it doesn’t need to maintain for emergencies.
Along with funding the Customs House purchase, County Council is amending the budget to spend $1.08 million to buy land near the airport, $830,000 to settle a complaint with the IRS, $135,000 for improvements at two recreation centers and $20,000 as an emergency allocation to St. Frances Animal Center which helps with animal control.
Another $5.4 million will be spent from the balance in the county’s special economic fund to buy 390 acres off Highway 521 for a new business park.
And the county needs to buy 540 radios and accessories to replace ones that will no longer be supported by the state emergency radio network. That is estimated to cost $6.2 million, said Brandon Ellis, deputy county administrator, and the order needs to be placed by June 30.
Nevertheless, the fund balance is expected to increase at the end of this fiscal year, Christian said.
“So we need to be less conservative,” asked Council Member Bob Anderson, who has questioned the size of the reserves.
“No such thing,” Christian said.
