Recently at a Dillon City Council meeting, a couple of council members spoke about misinformation in the public. Then at least one proceeded to give out misinformation in regards to the county and taxes.
We would like to report that the situation had improved, but recently in social media, The Herald learned our mayor, Todd Davis, was found guilty of the same offense.
Apparently, there was some misunderstanding by some citizens that the $40 road fee that is part of the county’s budget ordinance was a new fee or had gone up in some way. They inquired to the mayor about the fee and that is where the story of misinformation begins. Nearly all information he disseminated was incorrect.
Here are the facts. The road fee is not new and, in fact, has not been raised since the 2008-2009 budget year. The history of the fee is as follows:
* 1985-1986 budget (initial fee) $10.00
* 1991-1992 budget (increased to) $15.00
* 2001-2002 budget ” ” $18.00
* 2003-2004 budget ” ” $25.00
* 2005-2006 budget ” ” $30.00
* 2007-2008 budget ” ” $35.00
* 2008-2009 budget ” ” $40.00
The county has the responsibility for more than just two or three roads. As a matter of fact, per Terry Morris’ listing, there are 450 county roads to date (and more may be added as the county is notified of older roads which aren’t worked often, but have been worked for many years).
The road maintenance fee is used for the upkeep of these 450 roads, and the total expense budget for road maintenance is $946,433.
We have said it once recently, and we’ll say it again. Our public officials need to be more responsible in making sure that the citizens are receiving the correct information.
The disease of misinformation may be a problem with the public, but it seems that there is a plague of misinformation going on with our city officiels.
The cure for the disease—not spreading it— should begin among our city officials. Let’s hope they will work on getting and spreading the correct information.
