Commissioners reach compromise

James Island Public Service District commissioners reached a compromise on the 2008-09 budget, voting 4-3 Monday in favor of one that fully funds the fire department without raising taxes. Money will come from the district's $2.5 million fund balance.

Raising taxes was a big issue among commissioners, with some saying they were against it and Chairman Rod Welch saying a tax increase was inevitable. "We are a heavily fueled district," Welch said. "We can't not have a tax increase."

The budget predicts that if taxes are not raised, the district's fund balance will be down more than $1.5 million by the year 2012 and it will be spending $557,000 more than it takes in.

For now, the budget is healthy and the district will have enough money to fund the fire department without raising taxes. Commissioner Inez Brown-Crouch cast the deciding vote for the budget. She had previously voted with Commissioners June Waring, Charles Rhodes and Karen Clark-Thompson in favor of a budget that did not raise taxes but cut more than $200,000 from the fire department. That budget passed 4-3 at a committee meeting in March and deadlocked 3-3 on April 14 after Rhodes walked out of the meeting before the vote.

Firefighters and community members came out in opposition, asking commissioners to fully fund the department and said they didn't mind a tax increase to pay for it. Close to 100 people attended the April 14 meeting. More than 50 people attended Monday's committee meeting.

Brown-Crouch said she listened to the residents when she changed her vote. "I've gotten phone calls, letters," she said. "I vote with the majority."

Welch and Commissioners Eugene Platt and Donald Hollingsworth were in favor of a budget that fully funded the fire department but raised taxes by $11.52 per year on a $200,000 home. When that budget proposal was voted down Monday night, the three commissioners voted in favor of funding the department without raising taxes.

The new budget does not include the salary for an internal auditor, a position the majority of the commission voted to establish in March. Welch said the district would have to separately fund the position. While he voted for the budget, Welch was concerned that the district would have to dip into its fund balance next year.

The commission will hold first reading on the budget at 7 p.m. Monday at 1739 Signal Point Road. A public hearing will be held at 7 p.m. April 30.