WINNSBORO – During the Fairfield County Council meeting on Nov. 25, council members tabled, for the fourth time in as many months, a vote to appoint members to the county’s A-Tax (Accommodation Tax) and H-Tax (Hospitality Tax) advisory committee. When seated, those members will make recommendations to council regarding the awarding of grants from the county’s Local and State A-Tax revenue as well as from the county’s H-Tax revenue.
At the Oct. 28, 2024, council meeting, there were eight applicants for the seven seats required by state law for the committee. The committee is to be made up primarily of folks from the hospitality (eating establishments) industry and accommodations (lodging) industry. One representative must represent the community’s cultural organizations. At least two of the representatives must be from the lodging industry. Two members are allowed to be at-large, but that is an option, not a requirement.
Those requirements do not match up with most of the current applications for the Fairfield County A-Tax/H-Tax advisory committee.
According to SECTION 6-4-25 of SC State law, the A-tax and H-tax are collected to benefit the entire hospitality industry of a specific area. 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.
Of the original eight applicants for a seat on the committee, two are government officials; two are at-large with no apparent ties to the hospitality or lodging industry; two represent the lodging industry, one represents the cultural organizations of the community. Two of these seven applicants and one other are top officials in the Fairfield County Chamber of Commerce, which is a major recipient of the revenue awarded by the committee.
None of the applicants represent any of the many restaurants in Winnsboro, Ridgeway, or other areas of the county that should be benefitting from the revenues they collect.
In Blythewood, Town Administrator Daniel Stines told The Voice that all of that town’s A-Tax/H-Tax advisory committee members are from the lodging and restaurant industries except for the one member who represents cultural organizations.
“Members shall represent the geographic area where the majority of the A-Tax and H-Tax revenue is collected, according to state law. However, some council members have told The Voice that they have received no information about which geographic area produces the majority of the revenue, and that they have no idea what areas the applicants, if appointed, come from.
“Council members have to know the answers to these questions before we can appoint members to the advisory committee,” Councilman Dan Ruff told The Voice following the Aug. 26 council meeting.
Former County Deputy Administrator Synithia Williams told council at the Aug. 26 meeting that the applications were self-submitted, and that no solicitations were made by the county’s staff or council members. However, some of the applicants told The Voice that they were solicited to submit applications, which could lead to a conflict of interest.
Three of the eight applicants – the two government officials and the president of the Fairfield County Chamber of Commerce – have since withdrawn their applications. At the Nov. 25 council meeting, Interim Administrator Clay Killian suggested that council could go ahead and vote on the applicants. However, the issue was tabled. It is expected to come back for a vote at the Dec. 9 council meeting.