Council votes for $81 million budget

The Lancaster County Council unanimously passed its first reading of the new $81.1 million budget Monday night with a few minor tweaks reflecting a commitment to public works and public safety.
The fiscal 2017-18 budget is $2.1 million more than this year’s, and property owners would see a slight rise in taxes.
Homeowners with a home valued at $100,000 and vehicles worth $30,000 would see property taxes rise $22.26, to a total of $485.42. Breaking that down, it’s $15 more on the home and $7.26 on the vehicles.
The county now has almost 90,000 residents, and increased population demands more services from the county, according to County Administrator Steve Willis.
“We are simply going to have to add more resources if we are going to maintain the service level,” Willis said. “If we don’t start adding, then we are giving the citizens a service level cut.”
Twenty new staffers would be added to the county’s 1,150 employees. The sheriff’s office would get four patrol deputies, a body-camera technician, two correctional officers, and a correctional officer funded by contract with the City of Lancaster. County Fire Rescue would get five rescue firefighters – three to cover central Lancaster County and one each at Indian Land and Kershaw. EMS would get three medics at a new Panhandle station. Communications would get two 911 officers.
County employees would receive a 2 percent salary increase, their first across the board raise since 2014.
One new addition Monday night added a cost of $200,000 to the budget. The county is purchasing a new motor grader for public works. Willis said the existing grader is 11 years old and requiring costly and numerous repairs.
“Repairing has become a matter of throwing good money on top of bad money,” he said.
Other previously budgeted purchases include two pumper tankers, for the Indian Land and Pleasant Valley fire rescue departments, at up to $100,000 apiece.
“This is new equipment coming into the fire service fleet,” Willis said. “The old ones were simply tankers, and the existing equipment didn’t allow moving the water from the tankers.”
The sheriff’s office is getting two portable roadside electronic speed-and-message boards at a cost of $100,000 for the Indian Land area.
The council beefed up its support of local military veterans and will provide a military-style dining event to honor local veterans of the armed forces. The original plan was for a picnic on Veterans Day.
The county is awaiting the state budget figures to determine its portion of the increased state retirement plan.
The proposed budget is based on worse-case scenarios from the state, so if the figures for the employer portion for state retirement is less than budgeted, then the budget will have more money, according to Kimberly Hill, county budget analyst.
The public hearing and second of three readings will be June 12. The budget requires three approvals from county council.
UHF rezoning
In other business, the council voted 5-2 in favor of rezoning 75 acres in the Panhandle from rural neighborhood to residential mixed use, to be developed by UHF Residential Group. The land is near the Lancaster-York county line, on Little River Road off Doby’s Bridge Road.
Indian Land council members Brian Carnes and Terry Graham voted against the rezoning.
“I have not changed my opinion since the first vote,” Graham said. “There is tremendous congestion in that area, and I cannot approve another development without thinking about the infrastructure.”
Carnes voted for the rezoning at its first reading, but withdrew his support on second reading after talking with residents in the affected area, “which is one of the most congested in the county.”
County planner Alex Moore said the county doesn’t know at this point how many residential units will be built.
“The proposed residential mixed-use zoning district allows a density of 12 dwelling units per acre for attached homes, which would be garden apartments, stacked flats or townhouses,” Moore said.
“It also allows a density of nine dwelling units for detached homes, which are single-family homes,” he said.
The rezoning has now passed two of the three required readings. Third reading for the rezoning will be June 12.
Follow Reporter Mandy Catoe on Twitter @MandyCatoeTLN or contact her at (803) 283-1152.