Most Current Applicants May Not Meet State Requirements
WINNSBORO – During the Oct. 28 Fairfield County Council meeting, Dist. 1 Councilman Dan Ruff made a motion to table the vote on appointing applicants to the county’s A-Tax (accommodations tax) and H-Tax (hospitality tax) advisory committee which, when seated, would make recommendations to council regarding the awarding of grants from the county’s Local and State A-tax revenue as well as its H-tax revenue.
It was the second time Ruff had called for appointments to the committee to be tabled. At the Aug. 26 meeting, Ruff asked then-Deputy County Administrator Synthia Williams to provide more details on how selections for the advisory committee are made. The details Williams provided were scant, and some were not in line with state law requirements concerning the appointments. Council voted again to table the issue.
Councilwoman Peggy Swearingin asked Interim Administrator Clay Killian where the county would be advertising for committee applications.
“I’ll get with Mr. Stevens (the county’s Public Information Officer Gene Stevens) to be sure the word gets out that the application process is open,” Killian said. “I’m sure it will be on our website. We’ll be sure folks know the applications are open.”
As The Voice went to press on Wednesday, there was still no application posted for membership on the A-tax/H-tax committee, only a general application for boards and commissions, but no announcement that the application window was open or when it would close for submission of the applications.
Some council members said there were also no guidelines in their agenda packets regarding the qualifications for committee members or information about which area in the county brings in the majority of the funding – information necessary for knowing which areas to choose applicants from.
“Council members have to know the answers to these questions before we can appoint members to the advisory committee,” Ruff told The Voice following the Aug. 26 meeting.
Requirements for Membership
According to SECTION 6-4-25 of SC State law, if a county or town collects more than fifty thousand dollars in accommodation taxes, “they shall appoint an advisory committee to make recommendations to council on how to spend revenue generated from the accommodations tax.
“The advisory committee consists of seven members with a majority being selected from the hospitality industry of the municipality or county receiving the revenue.
[While the A-tax and H-tax is collected to benefit the entire hospitality industry of a specific area, the A-tax is collected by hotels and other places of lodging; H-tax is collected by restaurants and other places that sell prepared food and meals.]
“At least two of the hospitality industry members must be from the lodging industry where applicable.
“One member shall represent the cultural organizations of the municipality or county receiving the revenue.
“Members shall represent the geographic area where the majority of the revenue is derived.
”However, if a county receives more in distributions of accommodations taxes than it collects in accommodations taxes, the membership of its advisory committee must be representative of all areas of the county with a majority of the membership coming from no one area.”
Council members at both the Aug. 26 and Oct. 28 meetings received no information about which geographic area produces the majority of the A-tax and H-tax revenue.
While the county received eight applications sometime in early 2024, at least two elected officials have rescinded their applications and not all of the other applicants meet the state qualifications for serving.
While at-large members are allowed, two of the applicants are at-large members with no apparent connection to the hospitality industry. Three of the applicants are officials in the Fairfield County Chamber of Commerce, which is a major recipient of the A-tax and H-tax revenue grants, and none of the current applicants represent any of the many restaurants in Winnsboro, Ridgeway or other areas of the county that should be benefiting from the revenue they collect.
Williams told council at the Aug. 26 meeting that the applications were self-submitted, and that no solicitations were made from the county’s staff or council members. However, some of the applicants told The Voice that they were solicited, which could lead to a conflict of interest.