Tag: public funding

Time for Horry County Council to Review EDC Funding

Before the Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corporation gets too involved in a search for a new CEO, Horry County Council should take a hard look at its funding of the agency.

Despite new names, reorganizations of the agency and increased funding from county council, there have been relatively few actual new jobs created over the last 20 years.

The Horry County Administration Committee is expected to receive its quarterly jobs update from the county’s grant administration department at its August 1, 2014 meeting. This will be a tally, by company, of the number of new jobs created, not announced or promised, but actual people drawing paychecks since departing EDC CEO Brad Lofton was first hired in April 2011.

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Unresolved Issues Remain with Coast RTA Shelter Project

The third meeting of the Select Committee on Coast RTA will have to obtain some answers to several unresolved issues regarding the shelter and sign project before the committee can begin to finalize a report.

Despite fairly lengthy presentations by Coast RTA and SCDOT at the second meeting of the committee, held on April 7th, the number of shelters Coast RTA managed to install for use by its passengers remains in question.

While Coast RTA has maintained all along that it purchased 73 shelters total and installed 15 of those shelters, 10 shelters installed in the City of Myrtle Beach appear to be used for purposes other than those for which a $1 million grant was received by Coast RTA from the Waccamaw COG GSATS in 2005.

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Horry County Council and Coast RTA

Horry County Council Chairman Mark Lazarus announced last week he would appoint an ad hoc committee to study the controversy that exists between Coast RTA and the S.C. Department of Transportation.

The ad hoc committee will study facts relevant to two stalled Coast RTA projects, a $1 million shelter and sign project for bus routes and a feasibility study for an intermodal transportation center for the agency.

SCDOT representative Doug Frate told council members in an executive session held after a council workshop last week that Coast RTA may have to pay back approximately $500,000 to SCDOT for the stalled projects.

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Properly Funding Coast RTA

Local funding for Coast RTA has been a topic of discussion, sometimes heated, for over a year.

The desire of Horry County Council to have more membership on the Coast RTA board almost cost the authority one-fourth of its funding from the county in the current fiscal year.

We are hearing a move may be made by some council members to substantially cut Horry County funding to Coast RTA in the 2014-15 fiscal year budget currently in its early stages of consideration by the county.

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Budgets - Cuts, Spending and You

Horry County Council and the Golden Fleece

Horry County Council has received information requested from Coast RTA, Myrtle Beach Economic Development Corporation and Horry County Solid Waste Authority regarding compensation packages for the CEO of each.

Each agency receives public dollar funding from Horry County and how that funding was allocated became an issue at last week’s Horry County Council fall budget workshop.

Actually, the compensation for Coast RTA CEO Myers Rollins was questioned by council member Gary Loftus. When charges of possible racism were leveled over the questions, inquiries were expanded to include MBREDC CEO Brad Lofton and HCSWA CEO Danny Knight.

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