At the Dillon City Council meeting on Monday night, Councilman Phil Wallace made the remark that there was a lack of education as to where the money comes from and where the money goes in regards to city expenditures. He called it a “horrible disease in this town.”
Later, Councilman Douglas Jackson elaborated. He agreed there was a lack of education of where the tax money goes. He stated that the city did not go up on taxes for the Wellness Center or the golf course.
(The two percent hospitality tax pays the payment on the Wellness Center and helps operate it if needed. Some of the monies from the hospitality tax fund were borrowed for the golf course and will be repaid by the city from the operating fund of the golf course. The county also made a $50,000 donation for recreation, which will go to help with the golf course expenses.)
Jackson then started talking about a tax notice received by his son. He said that his son was surprised at the amount he had to pay. He then noted that the city had not gone up on their portion of the taxes. He went on to say that the citizens ought to question the county taxes and the county school system taxes and stated that they always went up the maximum.
This is incorrect in regards to the county council (Dillon County) taxes.
As shown in the chart above, Dillon County has not gone up on their millage in the last four fiscal years.
Councilman Jackson was incorrect when he stated otherwise about the county and is apparently guilty of the same lack of education when it comes to the county finances.
While he may be correct about the county school system, who would want to dispute spending tax dollars to educate and protect our children?
A case of misinformation may be a disease in this town, but getting out the right information and making sure that the public is being properly and correctly educated starts at the top.
Our leaders need to keep that in mind.
