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Tag: Blythewood Town Council

  • Santa gets new sleigh for 2018 parade

    BLYTHEWOOD – The Blythewood Christmas parade planning and funding are underway. Included in the plan is a float for Santa.

    Paul Richter, representing the Knights of Columbus, came before Council Tuesday evening to request $8,663 to finance this year’s Christmas parade. That’s about $3,300 more than the group requested last year.

    Additional funds are needed to provide a second reviewing stand and a second sound system on Main Street, Richter said. For many years, the reviewing stand was on Main Street but was moved to Blythewood Road three years ago when the Blythewood Chamber of Commerce was organizing the parade.

    “The shortest stretch of the parade route is on Blythewood Road,” Richter said. “And the longest route is on Blythewood Road. The majority of our citizens viewing the parade are on Main Street and they don’t have a clue what’s going on at the reviewing stand on Blythewood Road.”

    The cost for the second reviewing stand and sound system is about $3,000, Richter told Council.

    The $8,663 also includes an additional $500 for a nice float for Santa this year.

    “I did get comments last year,” Ross said with a laugh. “People didn’t like seeing Santa riding in the back of a pickup truck.”

    Councilman Eddie Baughman and Ross commended the Knights for the work they do on the parade.

    “You took this over when we had nowhere else to turn,” Ross said. “You all have done an unbelievable job and even refunded a check back for us two years ago when you didn’t spend all the money we gave you,” Ross said.

    Because the parade is a town event and is not specifically intended to bring in tourists, Ross said it will be funded from the hospitality taxes now and in the future instead of from accommodations taxes as in the past.

    The application stated that about 15,000 spectators are expected to view the parade this year.

    Annexation

    In other business, Council passed first reading to annex two properties on Syrup Mill Road into the town. William and Sandra Tomes, owners, petitioned for their three-quarter acre properties (R12810-05-01 and R12800-01-07) to be annexed with an interim zoning district classification of Rural.

    Both lots were zoned Rural in Richland County and are contiguous to the town to the east. Cook said the couple plans to ask for a permanent zoning classification of Rural.

  • Big Grab over A-Tax Funds

    Applicants offered $5K; Mayor: Take it or leave it

    BLYTHEWOOD – After the Accommodation Tax (A-Tax) committee passed last week on choosing one of two applicants (the Greater Blythewood Chamber and shop owner Theresa McKendrick) to receive $10,000 in A-Tax funds to run the Blythewood portion of this year’s Big Grab event, council was left to make the choice with the only recommendation from the A-Tax committee being that it limit funding for the event to $5,000.

    Rich McKendrick, who addressed council Monday night on behalf of his wife, Theresa, criticized merchants who, he said, supported her to apply for the A-tax funds to spearhead the Big Grab, but on the day of the A-tax committee meeting did not support her application. Those business connections, however, said that when they found out McKendrick’s application included $4,000 in staff pay, the assignment of vendors to the park and the sale of sponsorships – expenses they said they opposed from the get go – they could not support it.

    Those merchants said they were looking for an alternative to the chamber’s Big Grab megasite of vendors in the park last year that took much of their Big Grab business out of the town where it was originally designed to go. They also expressed their opposition to having to pay for sponsorships and for the A-tax money going to pay for thousands of dollars for staff pay.

    Kitty Kelly, office manager for the chamber, told council that the chamber did not receive any of its staff pay from A-Tax funds.

    “I don’t know where that’s coming from,” Kelly said.

    “Kitty, on the application you filled out for A-Tax funds, you designated ‘Blythewood chamber/visitor center staff, $5,000.’ That’s what your organization asked the A-Tax committee for to pay the chamber’s staff…$5,000 to administer the Big Grab,” Ross said, holding up the chamber’s application.

    “It’s $5,000 just to rent the park and pay Richland County (sheriff’s deputies),” Kelly said.

    As Switzer approached the podium, Ross told Kelly, “I think you need to let Mr. Switzer explain this.”

    “Yes, there are staff costs involved. Sponsorship and vendor fees have covered our staff costs,” Switzer said.

    However, the chamber’s application for A-Tax funds for this year and past years clearly listed staff salaries as coming out of A-Tax funds.  Further, while the chamber’s application listed its Big Grab budget at $10,000, the budget was actually $14,500. McKendrick’s budget was $15,000.

    Ross said council wanted to cover all the essential expenses for putting on the Big Grab – sheriff’s deputies, port-a-johns, marketing, etc. – with the caveat that council would receive receipts for those expenses. He said he felt the $5,000 would cover those expenses.

    “We’re not fools,” Ross said. “If we don’t give a dime to this, the Big Grab will happen and the vendors will set up in town and the businesses will do well.” He also suggested that the town could take over running the event but said he didn’t want to take an opportunity away from organizations that want to do it the right way.

    “We don’t want to bring people into our park to take them away from the businesses,” Ross said.

    Councilman Brian Franklin, however, ignoring merchant’s claims that the park vendors drastically reduce their business on Big Grab weekend, suggested still having as many as 50 vendors in the park.

    Mayor J. Michael Ross first offered the $5,000 for management of the event to McKendrick who declined, saying she would not run it without staff pay ($4,000) and allocations for other things such as rental for the park.

    Ross then offered the $5,000 to the chamber. Switzer said he was not turning the offer down but said the application was for $10,000 and that’s what he needed.

    The mayor countered that the option was take it or leave it. Switzer left the room and did not return.

    Council voted 4-1 to fund the chamber with the $5,000 if the chamber wanted to accept that amount and limit park vendors to 50. Councilman Eddie Baughman voted against. Otherwise, Ross said, the town would take over the Big Grab.

    The chamber was to notify town hall of its decision by 5 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 25. That decision had not been made before The Voice went to press on Wednesday.

  • Auditor: Town’s books were a mess

    Council Advised To Hire Competent Accountant

    BLYTHEWOOD – Before presenting the audit for the town government during Monday night’s town council meeting, Gary Bailey, with Love, Bailey Auditors of Laurens, S.C., spoke plainly about the condition in which he found the town’s books when he was called to audit them last November.

    “The books were really in a mess,” Bailey said.

    During the May town council meeting, Mayor J. Michael Ross announced that the town’s books were not in order and hadn’t been for some time. He said the town “has not even commenced the annual audit process for the 2016-17 audit.”

    To that end, the town hired the CPA firm of Sheheen, Hancock and Godwin of Camden to bring the town’s books up to the level that they could be audited. That audit was presented just seven days before the July 30 deadline when, by state law, the state could begin to withhold state funds from the town.

    “It appears this situation has resulted from management’s failure to properly transition to the new accounting software system which was recommended to this council by professional public administrators who then failed to attain implementation,” Ross stated during the May council meeting.

    Ross credited the town’s newly hired administrator, Brian Cook, for detecting the deficiency very early in his service to Blythewood. Cook was hired last February to replace Gary Parker who retired. Assistant administrator Chris Keefer left her position in June.

    By Monday night, however, all appeared to be well.

    “[Sheheen] did an excellent job,” Bailey told council. “After they took hold of your books, we didn’t find any major issues. The town is in a very strong position.”

    Bailey gave the town a stern warning, however, going forward.

    “You can see the alternative of not having a qualified person in place [to do the town’s accounting.] Hiring someone without expertise cost you way more than just outsourcing for a fraction of the time that was needed [to get the books in order],” Bailey said.

    Hitting the highlights of the audit, Bailey said the town’s total general fund increased by $173,000 to $1.562 million and, of that, only $359,000 was restricted to debt service. The other $1.2 million was unassigned.

    “The general fund cash balances increased to $1.2 million in fy 2016, but dropped a bit to around $800,000 in fy 2017 because you have a lot of projects going on and transferred a good bit over to capital projects,” Bailey said.

    The unassigned fund balance of $1.2 million represented about 87 percent of the fy 2017 expenditures which, Bailey said, was very strong.

    “Most town’s push to have a 25 percent minimum fund balance. Yours is 87 percent, so that’s really strong,” Bailey said.

    Bailey reported that the town’s general fund expenses were $1.38 million for fy 2017 based on operating cash, not restricted cash, which gave the town almost 10-1/2 months of cash flow.

    “If you didn’t bring in a single dollar for 10-1/2 months, you’d have enough to continue funding the town. That’s very strong even at June 30, 2018,” Bailey told council.

    Bailey reported that while the overall general fund revenue did decrease by about $65,000 from fy 2016 to fy 2017, it was mostly isolated to building fees and permits.

    Expenditures, Bailey said, also went down about $10,000 in fy 2017 due primarily to payroll being up about $9,000.

    “You had about $14,000 in capital outlays within the general fund, but all other expenses decreased $33,000 from the previous year,” Bailey said.

    The good news, Bailey said, is that the town’s revenue was $64,000 more than was budgeted and expenses were $168,000 below what was budgeted.

    “You spent a lot of money in fy 2017 and wrapped it up in fy 2018,” Bailey said. “Overall capital outlay in fy 2017 was $865,000, mostly for two projects: the amphitheater for $416,000 and the Doko building for $408,000.

    The audit showed that Doko Meadows is becoming a bright spot instead of a blight on the town’s financial picture. Revenue increased from $135,000 in fy 2016 to $175,000 in fy 2017 The unadjusted fy 2018 numbers have the revenue at $212,000. Bailey also pointed out that the Doko Meadows losses decreased from $77,000 in fy 2017 to $35,000 in fy 2018.

    The outstanding balance on the bond that was used to construct Doko Meadows is $4.4 million.

    Going forward, Cook said the town is evaluating how it wants to reconfigure staffing to handle the town’s accounting. He said the 2016 transition from outsourcing the town’s accounting to an in-house system bogged down.

    “We’re thinking about hiring a qualified accountant and doing it ourselves, now, but with oversight from Sheheen. We have some controls in place and we’ll continue to have a CPA check up on us, maybe monthly at first and less frequently over time,” Cook said. “It’s going to take a little time to get set up.”

    Cook said he expects the town’s books to be ready for the fy 2018 audit to begin in October and Bailey said that audit is on track to be presented before Christmas.

  • CPA: Visitor Center funds funneled to Chamber

    BLYTHEWOOD – After reviewing The Greater Blythewood Chamber of Commerce’s financial documents that were requested by council for fiscal year 2017-18, a certified public accountant concluded that the documents were “confusing, lacking in detail and sometimes impossible to follow and understand.”

    He also concluded that much of the $18,500 accommodation tax (A-tax) money council awarded to the chamber in June, 2017, to pay for a dedicated visitor center employee, was not spent on that employee. Instead, it was funneled directly to the chamber to pay one quarter of the chamber’s annual operating expenses, an unauthorized use of A-tax money, according to the CPA, and an arrangement the council never agreed to when it allowed the chamber to take over the management of the visitor center in June 2017 and awarded the chamber the funds for a visitor center employee.

    Those documents were acquired by The Voice from members of Town Council after the chamber’s executive director, Mike Switzer, turned them over to council on June 13, more than a month after council requested them. The documents included several untitled, undated budget reports along with others with partial dates. Many of the entries on budget ‘actuals’ do not match annual profit and loss statements for the same time period.

    Former Town Councilman Bob Massa, a CPA and former treasurer for the Blythewood Chamber, said the financials that were presented to council and passed on to The Voice do not meet professional accounting standards even though the chamber’s May 31, 2018 actuals reflect $2,730 for ‘professional account fees.’

    When council allowed the chamber to take over management of the visitor center in June 2017, it gave A-tax funding for a dedicated employee for the chamber, but did not approve that A-tax money for the chamber’s operating expenses as part of the arrangement.

    However, a report in the chamber’s financial documents, titled ‘Visitor’s Center Report: January 2018”, showed that during the first six months, after being awarded the $18,500 for a visitor center employee, the chamber charged one quarter of its operating expenses to the visitor center’s $18,500, producing an artificial deficit of $4,885 for the first half of the fiscal year and projecting an artificial deficit of $2,758 for the upcoming second half of the fiscal year.

    Switzer presented that report to council and, with no discussion as to why a quarter of the chamber’s operating expenses had been charged to the visitor center, which is, according to Massa, an unauthorized use of A-tax funds, voted to give the chamber another $7,643, the full amount of both artificial ‘deficits.’

    Massa also pointed out that at least some of the chamber’s operating expenses charged to the visitor center appeared to be inflated, thus artificially increasing the amount of the deficit. One example is a $626 charge for one-fourth of the chamber’s annual insurance cost which, multiplied by four, comes to $2,504 total for the year. But the chamber’s profit and loss statement and the actuals of a budget for that same time period listed the chamber’s annual insurance costs at $1,491.72, not $2,504. Council did not question the difference before voting to give the $7,643 to the chamber.

    “It’s difficult to tell what is going on with the chamber‘s and visitor center’s revenue and expenses from these documents. It’s a mess,” Massa said.

    While members of the audience at the June 25 council meeting questioned and criticized the chamber’s financials, council, without asking any questions about the requested financial documents, voted 4-0 to award another $9,250 to the chamber for the visitor center for the next six months, even though it also voted to discontinue all funding for the visitor center as of Dec. 31, 2018. Council did not outline any expectations for the visitor center operations or how the $9,250 is to be spent.

    “The A-tax money is intended to be used to promote tourism to the town, to bring visitors,” Massa said. He said it can also be used to pay an employee for a visitor center or to fund events, such as The Big Grab, that have the potential to bring visitors to Blythewood.

    “Council has a fiduciary responsibility to the residents. A-tax money is for specific things. It is not for funding the chamber’s operating expenses, but it would appear that it is being laundered through the visitor center to do just that.”

    $17,500 Grant

    A state official also had concerns about an economic development grant council awards each year to the Greater Blythewood Chamber, a practice that Massa said should be frowned upon by the residents since it does not appear to meet the criteria for a grant. This year, council’s grant to the chamber is $17,500, a $2,500 increase over last year’s award.

    “Who else is eligible to receive this grant? It’s not a grant if only one entity is eligible to apply and receive it,” the official, who asked not to be identified, said. “Grants must have criteria to which an entity has to adhere to and meet in order to apply and receive funds. Public funds must be spent for a public purpose. A service must be provided in exchange for these funds. The grant has to be open to anyone who meets the criteria. Businesses in the town could apply for this grant. There should be an expectation on the town’s part that there is a return on that investment. A contract is involved when a grant is awarded,” the official said.

    But the only ‘contract’ for the grant between the town and the chamber is a letter stating that the chamber must provide the town a $2,500 premier sponsorship and that Ed Parler, the town’s appointee to the Chamber board, must have a vote on the board.

    The state official said that is not a return on the town’s investment of $17,500.

    Other inconsistences in the chamber’s financial bookkeeping and reporting has to do with the A-tax funds awarded to the chamber by council for events organized by the chamber. For the last three years, council has funded the chamber with A-tax funds to organize The Big Grab in September, a glorified yard sale that includes Blythewood, Ridgeway and Winnsboro.  Last year, the Chamber also received A-tax funds to organize the community’s Solar Eclipse event.

    But Switzer’s reports on the chamber’s revenue and expenses for the two events came up short on transparency. Of the $8,750 A-tax award for The Big Grab, the chamber staff paid themselves $4,618 on top of their chamber salaries. Of the  $12,750 A-tax award for the Solar Eclipse event, the chamber staff paid themselves $7,475.25. This was compensation in addition to what the staff is regularly paid by the chamber for chamber activities.

    After each event, the chamber is required to submit a report to the A-tax committee on its revenue and expenses for the event.  Those reports, with few details, led to questions of how the money was actually spent.

    Solar Eclipse reports

    Switzer reported to the A-tax Committee that its total revenue for the Eclipse event (A-tax and other sources) came to $19,455.94. However, the annual profit and loss statement he presented to council for 2017-18 and the budget/actual for the year listed total revenue for the Eclipse at $24,625.98, a difference of $5,170.04.

    Switzer reported to the A-tax committee that the chamber’s total Eclipse expenses were $20,838.03.

    The chamber’s profit and loss statement for 2017-18 and the budget actual for 2017-18 showed expenses of $22,565.79, for a difference of $1,727.76.

    Big Grab reports

    While both the A-tax report and the profit and loss and budget/actual for 2017-18 Solar Eclipse revenue matched at $13.547.00, expenses for the event were off on the same reports. Switzer’s final report to the A-tax committee reported expenses of $12,114.23. His profit and loss for 2017-18 and the budget/actual for the year listed Big Grab expenses as $7,402.12; a difference of $4,712.11.

    In other reports for the events, there is little information about revenue and expenses for what Switzer said were lucrative t-shirt sales, vendor sales, sponsorships and other areas of revenue.

    “The chamber needs to explain these discrepancies,” Massa said. “They are playing fast and loose with numbers and the council is apparently going right along with them. When you’re making decisions to dole out town money, you’re accountable to know what the numbers really are.”

    Other financial reporting

    The reporting of the chamber’s total operating revenue and expenses also vary from one document to another for the same time period in documents presented to council. The last documents were presented on June 22, 2018 prior to the June 25 council meeting where council voted to extend funding to the chamber for the visitor center in the amount of $9,250 through Dec. 31, 2018.

    The total revenue listed under ‘actuals’ dated May 31, 2018 is $92,806.05. Total revenue listed on the chamber’s profit and lost statement for May 31, 2018 is $133,442.10, a difference of $40,636.05.

    The total operating expenses listed under ‘actuals’ dated May 31, 2018 is $114,639.52, Total operating expenses listed on the chamber’s profit and lost statement for May 31, 2018 is $86,907.35, a difference of $27,732.17.

    While the total revenue for the visitor center is reported on the May 31, 2018 actuals and on the May 31, 2018 profit and loss statement to be $40,616.05. It jumps to $67,342.76 on the June 22, 2018 profit and loss statement even though there appears to be no income activity for the visitor center in those 22 days.

    Total visitor center expenses are listed at $8,157.31 on the ‘actuals’  and the profit and loss statement for May 31, 2018, but they jump to $30,842.07 on the June 22, 2018 profit and loss statement, again, with no significant expenses documented for those 22 days.

    For his part, Switzer has maintained that the chamber is above board financially and that council has long approved of how the chamber has conducted its business and spent its money.

    “I just want to say thank you to the council for the vote of confidence with the increases that you’ve proposed for the upcoming budget,” Switzer said at a May 2018 budget workshop. “We appreciate your vote of confidence in the work that we’re doing and we’re looking forward to continuing to grow that work.”

    “Despite the very misleading and sometimes often outright false statements that were put out there, we are completely  of the upmost integrity at the chamber, and I think a good testament to that is that the town has had a representative on our board for many years,” Switzer said. He said the mayor, himself, had served as that representative for a year before Ed Parler, the town’s economic development consultant, took the role.

    “He (Parler) attended every single board meeting where our treasurer’s report is given out and all our financials are laid out,” Switzer said. “The $4,500 increase [$2,500 to the chamber and $2,000 to the visitor center] that you have in the budget for us will cover three-quarters of our rent increase of $6,000,” Switzer said.

    The chamber rents space for $24,000 a year in a building in McNulty Plaza that Mayor J. Michael Ross and a partner own. According to chamber documents acquired by The Voice, annual rent for the chamber was $600 in 2015/16, increased to $12,000 in 2016/17 and $18,000 in 2017/18. The increase of $6,000 will bring the annual rental fee for the chamber to $24,000. Ross said that increase went into effect July 1.

    On Wednesday, shortly after The Voice went to press, Switzer was to appear before the A-tax committee to request $10,000 in funding to organize and manage the next Big Grab event to be held in September.

  • Council opens door to vendors

    Vendor Johnny Dial runs a vegetable stand across from the Food Lion on Blythewood Road. | Barbara Ball

    BLYTHEWOOD – Town Council passed a temporary vending ordinance last week that opens the door for vendors to set up shop in the Town Center District (TCD).

    The ordinance, which took more than a year to pass, is a City of Columbia ordinance knockoff that basically allows street vendors to begin operating in the town if they are permitted by a property owner to locate on their property, leave the premises every evening and acquire the proper temporary vendor permitting from Town Hall. There are a few specific regulations for different types of vendors.

    Food trucks must locate more than 250 feet from the door of a lawfully established eating place unless the owner of that eating place provides a letter of consent.  Seasonal vendors and food trucks must obtain a zoning permit prior to operating in the town and must locate within a district that otherwise permits that type of business. Vendors located within 400 feet of a parcel zoned residential are not allowed to operate between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m., and vendors cannot operate more than a total of 10 hours within a calendar day.

    Vendors are generally allowed to operate at the same time the other businesses in town are open.

    Unlike brick and mortar businesses in the town, vendors are not required to adhere to architectural review standards. A business owner in the TCD who is prohibited from painting his building garish colors could come in with those same colors as a vendor without penalty. There are no architectural review requirements or restrictions for temporary vendors.

    Still, vendor Johnny Dial, who has manned a vegetable stand across from the Food Lion on Blythewood Road for most of the past three years, says the rules are too tough on vendors.

    “Having to move out every night, pull up stakes and come back the next day and set up is a lot of work.”

    But Dial also says it is too expensive to lease a building.

    “People don’t like to buy produce in a store. They like to buy vegetables in open air markets,” Dial said.

    Dial purchases most of his vegetables from producers in Lexington County – Moneta, Mr. Rawl’s and William’s Produce – who deliver the products to him.

    The ordinance defines ‘temporary vendors’ “as a person who sells merchandise, goods, services or forms of amusement from a tent, awning, canopy, umbrella, stand, booth, cart or trailer, from a vehicle, from his person or other temporary structure.”

    A food truck is defined as a licensed, motorized vehicle that includes a self-contained or attached trailer kitchen and the vehicle is used to sell and dispense food to the general public.

    Grace Coffee, although it looks like a vendor, does not have to pull up stakes and leave every evening like the other vendors. It is allowed to stay on premises 24/7/365 like brick and mortar businesses, but is not bound by architectural review restrictions and regulations that brick and mortar businesses are bound by. Grace Coffee has been declared by Town Hall to be a ‘business in good standing.

    Cook said the term ‘temporary vending’ has to do with venders who are only in town for the day, but leave after business hours.

    The temporary vending ordinance was recommended for approval by the Planning Commission on April 4. It was also shown to the Board of Architectural Review (BAR). While BAR members were not given any authority to make changes or vote on the ordinance, they asked that there be some criteria addressed for standards dealing with the architectural appropriateness of vendors.

    “I really have a struggle with the fairness of this,” Jim McLean, co-chair of the BAR said. “Are the brick and mortar stores being undercut? They have made a hard investment in the town and have to abide by the BAR regulations and restrictions. The caveat of unfair competition needs to be addressed.”

    Appearance of the vendors was not addressed by Council when it passed the ordinance last week.

  • Town hires CPA to right its financials

    BLYTHEWOOD – Town Council passed final reading last week on the Town’s 2018-19 budget set at $1,565,114.

    Town administrator Brian Cook said there were only a few changes in the budget since the first reading in May. Of note, however, is a transfer of $25,000 from the contingency fund into accounting services.

    “That accounts partly for the cost of a review of our accounting records that we need moving forward,” Cook said.

    He was referencing an announcement made by Mayor J. Michael Ross at the May council meeting that the town’s accounting and financial record keeping was not in proper order and that town hall “has not even commenced the annual audit process for last year’s (2016-17) audit.”

    Ross said, however, that he believed the town’s finances to be in solid shape.

    “It appears this situation has resulted from management’s failure to properly transition to the new accounting software system which was recommended to this council by professional public administrators who then failed to attain implementation,” Ross said.

    Ross thanked Cook publicly for detecting this deficiency very early in his service to Blythewood. Cook was hired last February to replace Gary Parker who retired. Assistant administrator Chris Keefer left her position last month.

    “Mr. Cook and the town’s staff are working diligently to correct this issue, and we hope to have the books ready for external independent audit within the next 45-60 days,” Ross said at the May meeting.

    In an interview with The Voice on Monday, Cook reported that Love Bailey, an auditor hired by the Town, has completed the audit for 2016 and that he expects it to be presented at the July town council meeting. Cook said Love Bailey is also organizing the Town’s books for the 2017-18 audit which he said he expects to be presented on schedule in the late fall.

    Budget Highlights

    The proposed 2018-19 budget reflects $202,111 in building permits and fees, an increase of $17,111 over last year. Council also sees business licenses inside the town increasing from $94,871 to $113,351 and business license outside the town increasing from $80,188 to $92,491.

    Town Hall salaries include a three percent cost of living and a three percent merit based pot. A sum of $9,250 is set aside in the budget for boardwalk security cameras in the park and $3,500 for supplies for the amphitheater.

    Cook said that due to pending development projects under consideration, it is anticipated to have an increase in state accommodation tax and hospitality tax of $6,513 and $6,255 respectively.

    The annual economic development grant for the Greater Blythewood Chamber of Commerce will increase from $15,000 to $17,500, and is funded out of the general fund.  Council continued to fund the visitor center at $18,500 even though it voted to only fund it for 6 months at $9,250. It increased the Historical Society’s funding from $20,500 to $21,500.

    Council also proposes to fund $10,000 of accommodation tax revenue for The Big Grab in September, an increase of $1,250 over last year, but it has not been determined whether that funding will be allocated for the Chamber this year. The Chamber has received the funding the last two years.

  • Blythewood Town Council increases Chamber funding

    BLYTHEWOOD – After months of threatening to withhold funds from the chamber of commerce and visitor center until the chamber’s executive director Mike Switzer produced the two organizations’ complete financials by June 12, council did just the opposite on Monday night.

    After being presented financials that one former council member described as little more than a difficult-to-follow profit and loss statement that took more than a month to produce, Council increased funding for the chamber Monday evening from $15,000 to $17,500 for the 2018-19 fiscal year and continued full funding for the visitor center at $18,500 annually, with $9,250 awarded up front along with the promise that it will pull the plug on the visitor center at the end of six months, on Dec. 31, 2018.

    Council also raised the allocation in the budget for accommodation tax funding for the Big Grab (which has been given to the chamber for the last two years) from $8,500 to $10,000 for fiscal year 2018-19.

    Council asked in return only that the chamber give it a premier sponsorship valued at $2,500. The sponsorship is given at no cost to the chamber, and for council to have a voting member on the chamber board. That member will be Ed Parler, the town’s economic development director and council’s current liaison to the chamber.

    Mayor pro tem Eddie Baughman, who led the discussion and the fight to keep the visitor center funded until the end of the year, expressed concern several times about the council being fair to the chamber.  Council offered no criticism of the chamber’s financials which, chamber member Phil Frye characterized Monday night as “an abomination.”

    “The [chamber’s] profit and loss statements were difficult to understand,” Ed Parler, council’s liaison to the chamber said Monday evening. Council had no questions about the chamber/visitor center’s past financial inconsistencies and while some council members suggested the chamber got off track because there of a lack of expectations from both sides, council offered no specific stipulations or expectations regarding the chamber and visitor center financials going forward. No reference was made to the chamber’s lack of financial disclosure, reporting and questionable distribution of funds as reported in The Voice.

    The vote to fund was unanimous with Mayor J. Michael Ross not voting, but not recusing himself either. Ross remained at the table, participating in the discussion of the funding and, when both Councilmen Malcolm Gordge and Larry Griffin suggested pulling the plug immediately on the visitor center, Ross intervened to encourage chamber members in the audience to come forward to present the chamber’s side.

    Ross announced on Monday night that his decision to no longer vote on chamber or visitor center funding is due to his several-year business relationship with the chamber, which rents office space in McNulty Plaza that is owned by Ross and a business partner. Ross did recuse himself from a vote last year on $7,000 that council awarded to the chamber to renovate the McNulty office space. Ross has not recused himself on other votes providing funding that was used to pay rent.

    During a budget workshop on April 24, Switzer requested a $4,000 increase in funding – $2,500 for the chamber, which was approved by Council Monday night, and $2,000 for the visitor center, which was not approved.

    “The $4,500 increase that you have in the budget for us will cover one-fourth of our rent increase of $6,000,” Switzer told council. That increase goes into effect on July 1, Ross told The Voice.

    “My partner and I basically gave the building to the chamber the first year they were there,” Ross said. “But you can only do that for so long if you’re in business. So we charge them $1,500 a month. That’s 45 percent less than what other people pay in our building. We’re just trying to help the chamber.”

    According to Chamber documents acquired by The Voice, annual rent for the chamber/visitor center space increased over $23,000 annually over three years. It was $600 in 2015-16, increased to $12,000 for 2016-17 and to $18,000 for 2017-18. The $6,000 increase in July will bring the chamber’s annual rental fee to $24,000 or $2,000 per month. A third of that amount is charged to the visitor center which is housed in the Chamber office space.

    The usefulness of the visitor center to the town was also questioned in relation to the $18,500 annual funding. During a meeting at the chamber offices recently, Baughman said he viewed only 67 names on the visitor’s register since the first of the year and that half of them were from Blythewood, not visitors to the town.

    “That’s expensive for 30 people,” audience member Tom Greer of Cobblestone commented during the meeting.

    Rich McKendrick, a town planning commissioner and resident of Ashley Oaks, expressed criticism of how the chamber is run and questioned why the town funds a visitor center that opened a gift shop that poses competition to small businesses in town.

    “We’re members of the chamber, but a couple of curve balls have been thrown at us by the chamber which relate to the visitor center which is in direct competition with what my wife sells in her shop. She pushes hard to offer local venders, local crafts, honey, eggs, needlepoint – those are drivers in our business. Then the chamber, which is funded by the town, pops up with the visitor’s center. We are trying to see how that visitor center works on behalf of the local businesses since it’s not open on weekends,” McKendrick said. “Then the gift shop pops up. If you’re a chamber, you’re a chamber. Then you open a gift shop. What if you open a coffee shop next? I cannot connect these dots.

    “Then they come to council and ask for money which helps the gift shop,” McKendrick said. “The chamber doesn’t do anything for us for free. We pay a membership, then when the Big Grab came along, they asked us to pay a sponsorship, then they spell our name wrong and then they make excuses. And it was the same thing with the Eclipse event. We have to pay again for what the town is already paying them for. And then they open a gift shop. It’s mind-numbing when you’re on the outside looking in. I’m telling you from a business owner’s standpoint, this plan makes no sense. We are a business here. But the chamber places itself in control of events that we have to pay extra for,” McKendrick said.

    McKendrick suggested the town pull the plug on the visitor center and use the money to otherwise help the merchants.

    “The chamber was already paying the rent [for its office space] before there was a visitor’s center,” McKendrick said.

    “According to a presentation [to council] by Mr. Switzer, the chamber’s expenses have not changed because of the visitor’s center. It [the funding for the visitor center] is just an additional revenue stream to what you are already giving the chamber,” McKendrick told council. “You’re supplementing a chamber that has not had any increase in expenses due to the visitor center. “

    “That makes sense,” Baughman said, “but we’re trying to do the fair thing for the chamber, to keep it [the visitor center] going for six months, then pull the plug. I’m trying to be fair.”

    In the end, there was no suggestion from council that the town should or would look into the chamber and visitor center financials, or hold them accountable for a number of financial discrepancies in the past that make it difficult to track funding.

    An examination of the chamber’s financial documents obtained by The Voice show amounts differed from report to report and there was little breakdown of revenue and expenses to know if the numbers shown on the profit and loss statement were accurate. In one instance, Switzer submitted a final report to the A-tax committee for The Big Grab listing chamber expenses as $12,114.23 but the chamber’s profit and loss statement for July 1, 2017 – June 22, 2017 lists total expenses for The Big Grab as $7,402.12. There is no explanation for the $4,712.11 discrepancy. This and other questions were emailed to Ross with only one response at this time. In that response, Ross only said that he did not approve of the chamber staff receiving payment for working on events funded by the town.

    Mayor pro tem Eddie Baughman led the fight to fund the chamber and visitor center until Dec. 31, 2018, in order to “be fair” to the chamber. But while some effort was made to set down expectations for what council wanted to see accomplished by the chamber and, particularly, the visitor center in exchange for the funding, no consensus was ever reached and no expectations were identified.

  • Switzer to hand over financials

    BLYTHEWOOD – Town Council again addressed the growing issue of the Blythewood Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center financials at the May 26 Town Council meeting. And, again, Council asked Mike Switzer, Executive Director of both the Chamber and Visitor Center, to produce the complete financial records for both organizations. The Town and The Voice have requested the financials several times over the past month without results.

    Switzer said the Chamber’s treasurer, Dennis Drozbak, would submit the information to the Town on or before June 12. At the meeting, Switzer explained again why the financials had not been presented to Council.

    “We’ve been creating all these sub-categories with much more magnification. We don’t have these categories filled in so we have to go back and reclassify every single thing,” Switzer said.

    “We need those before we can approve the numbers for the next budget year,” Mayor J. Michael Ross said.

    “I thought you only wanted the budget,” Switzer said. “We haven’t finished the budget.”

    “We want the financials, everything. Anything that’s been written in the paper or questioned,” Ross said. “We want you to present this Council with something we can look at and we are either going to say the paper wasn’t right or, if it is right, then we’ve got a problem.”

    While former Town Councilman Tom Utroska has on several occasions called for an audit of the Chamber’s funds, the Council as a whole has never asked for an audit and, until recently, rarely questioned how the Chamber spent money it receives from the general fund or how the Visitor Center spends the money Council awards it from the accommodation tax funds.  The Town has given Switzer more than a month to work on the Chamber and Visitor Center financials in order for them to be reviewed by Council.

    Switzer insisted, however, that he has been open about the Chamber’s finances with the Town.

    “We actually give monthly P & L statements to the town’s representative on the Chamber board,” Switzer said.

    “We’re not just talking about profit and loss,” Ross said. “We’re talking about financials that we can look at. More detail on salaries and everything. Let us look at everything so we can make a determination.”

    Ross notified The Voice last weekend that he, Councilman Brian Franklin and the Town’s representative on the Chamber board, Ed Parler, met with Drozbak on Wednesday, June 6 to discuss the Chamber and Visitor Center financials.

    “Mr. Drozbak brought no documents with him. We told him we want to look at all the Chamber and Visitor Center financials,” Ross said.

    Ross, town attorney Jim Meggs, another  Councilman and Town Administrator Brian Cook were to meet on Wednesday, June 13 with Switzer and Drozbak, who agreed to hand over the requested documents. That meeting was scheduled shortly after The Voice went to press.

    The Chamber has never responded with financial documentation requested by The Voice through a S.C. Freedom of Information request submitted on April 4. Detrimental to that request, the S.C. Supreme Court issued a ruling on May 23, in a case brought against the Hilton Head Chamber of Commerce that strips the media and citizens of their ability to use the S.C. Freedom of Information Act to find out how Chambers of Commerce in the state spend taxpayer money awarded them by governments. With the ruling, the government that awards the money is now the only entity that has recourse to find out how a chamber spends that money.

  • Council grills chamber director

    Switzer has until June 12 to submit financial reports

    BLYTHEWOOD – Town Council’s second workshop for the 2018/19 budget, held Thursday, May 24, quickly jumped the rails from a budget discussion to an intense interrogation of the Greater Blythewood Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Mike Switzer about chamber and visitor center financial inconsistencies reported earlier that morning in The Voice.

    The session culminated in Switzer taking cover behind a S.C. Supreme Court ruling issued the day before the meeting in a case brought against the Hilton Head Chamber of Commerce, that strips the media and citizens of their ability to use the S.C. Freedom of Information Act to find out how Chambers of Commerce in the state spend tax-payer money awarded them by governments. With the ruling, only the government who awards the money now has recourse to find out how a chamber spends that money.

    Before Council could take its first swing, however, Switzer ducked, pointing out that Council, itself, has approved of how the chamber has conducted its business and spent its money.

    “I just want to say thank you to the council for the vote of confidence with the increases that you’ve proposed for the upcoming budget. We appreciate your vote of confidence in the work that we’re doing and we’re looking forward to continuing to grow that work,” Switzer said.

    “Despite the very misleading and sometimes often outright false statements that were put out there, we are completely of the upmost integrity at the Chamber, and I think a good testament to that is that the town has had a representative on our board for many years,” Switzer said. He made it clear that the mayor, himself, had served as that representative for a year before Ed Parler, the town’s economic development consultant, took the role.

    “He (Parler) attended every single board meeting where our treasurer’s report is given out and all our financials are laid out,” Switzer said. “The $4,500 increase [$2,500 to the chamber and $2,000 to the visitor center] that you have in the budget for us will cover ¾ of our rent increase of $6,000,” Switzer said.

    The chamber rents space in a building in McNulty Plaza that Mayor J. Michael Ross and a partner own. According to chamber documents acquired by The Voice, annual rent for the chamber/visitor center space was $600 in 2015/16, increased to $12,000 in 2016/17 and $18,000 in 2017/18. The increase of $6,000 will bring the annual rental fee to $24,000. Ross said that increase goes into effect July 1. While Ross recused himself from voting on $7,000 council awarded the Chamber to renovate the space last year, he has voted on all other allotments to the chamber and visitor center.

    “There are some questions being raised…,” Ross said, “and I think that we need a little bit more [information] than what you gave us the last time – a one sheet page. We [the Town] just did our budget proposal and it’s 19 pages long.  Whatever your financials are, I think it’s very important for this council to look at real numbers. And I mean salaries.”

    Ross said the Town government’s books are open for viewing and that the chamber’s should be also.

    “We know how much we’ve spent, how much we’ve got left, what we’re going to do. And I would think y’all are in the same boat. But this council needs to look at that to give you, truly, either a tremendous vote of confidence or have some pointed questions, as does this article, about how your allocations are being made and what salaries are being paid,” Ross said.

    While Switzer said the chamber/visitor center has never denied or refused to answer questions, Councilman Eddie Baughman pointed out that the story in The Voice stated that the newspaper had submitted an FOIA request to the chamber on May 4 and had not yet received any of the requested documentation.

    “I have 30 days to answer it,” Switzer said.

    “If your books are up to date, it shouldn’t take 30 days to answer,” Baughman shot back.

    Ross pointed out during Tuesday night’s council meeting that the same financial information had been requested of the chamber and to the Blythewood Historical Society and that the historical society provided their information the next business day.

    Switzer blamed the delay on several reasons. He said the chamber’s treasurer had been out of town a lot due to his wife’s illness and was only in the office a limited amount of time. Switzer said for that reason the chamber’s financials will not be available until June 12, when the treasurer returns.

    “He’s the one who does all of our billing, does all of our check writing, does everything [financially],” Switzer said. He also said the treasurer had never used a QuickBooks system prior to taking over the chamber’s books less than a year ago.

    While documentation in council member’s packets in January showed that the chamber spends $3,650 for accounting services, there was no explanation as to who receives that money.

    “Angie, who did the books the previous two years, worked with him [the chamber’s treasurer] from July to October, and then she kind of cut him loose. Almost every month, we find things that have to be fixed and corrected, so I’ve identified a couple more things that we need to be making sure they’re in the right category. So, yeah,” Switzer said, “I can promise you, we’ve been working many hours on this. We have always just lumped breakfast [meeting] expenses together, whether it was the rent for the Manor, the cost of a poster, or the cost for the food, we’ve just put it all under breakfast expenses,” he said. “We didn’t sub-categorize. We have since, between our last board meeting and the one upcoming, over the past couple of weeks, we’ve been working on building QuickBooks so that it itemizes everything out into sub-categories, so every event has rent, advertising, marketing, etc. So it’s not just all dumped into one category. You won’t believe the amount of detail,” Switzer said.

    “Well, we look forward to seeing that detail,” Ross said.

    But former Councilman Tom Utroska, who spoke during public comment time, pointed out that while council has been quick to appropriate increasing amounts of funds to the chamber, it has done little to hold the chamber accountable for those funds.

    “Last year at budget time, a representative from the chamber asked for continuing financial support, plus, he offered to operate the Blythewood Visitor Center if town council would fund it,” Utroska said.

    “Reluctantly, council agreed to fund the venture for one year, provided that the Chamber would provide verification [justification] that they were sufficiently increasing Town visitors/tourism,” Utroska said. “Based on council’s concerns at the time, the budget was passed with the oral stipulation that the Chamber would only receive partial funding in July 2017 and would be required to provide documentation of its success in order to receive the balance of the funds in December 2017.

    “At the January 2018 council meeting, the chamber made that presentation, which I would describe as a dog and pony show,” Utroska said.  “Chamber members stated that they were not able to present factual information to verify the visitor center’s operational success. Evidently, however, that presentation was sufficient to keep it funded [by council] through the end of the current fiscal year,” Utroska said.

    “Here we are at the town’s budget process, again, planning to fund the visitor center when, in fact, we have no idea if it is successful or if it is just a financial instrument helping keep the chamber afloat.

    “At the January 2018 meeting, I requested that council hold in abeyance future funding for operations of the visitor’s center until such time as the Town has received an audit that verifies that visitor center funds are providing the Town with the intended results and, that their use complies with state law concerning accommodation tax expenditures for tourism,” Utroska said.

    “If you don’t question their performance and use of funding,” he said to council members, “you are shirking your fiduciary responsibility.”

    The first reading of the 2018/19 budget, which was approved 5-0 Tuesday evening at the regular council meeting, proposes to increase the chamber’s economic development grant from the Town’s general fund from $15,000 to $17,500 and increase the accommodation tax award to the visitor center from $18,500 to $20,500. The mayor also suggested at the May 24 workshop that it might use approximately $10,500 in unspent state accommodations tax revenue to boost the chamber’s allotment to a total of about $48,000 annually.

    Ross is giving Switzer an additional three weeks, until June 12, to get its books in order before presenting them for town hall’s inspection. It is not clear, however, whether council is seeking the chamber’s past years of financials or just the budget for 2018.

    Council will have second reading of the budget June 25.

    Michael Smith contributed to this story. 

    Related articles: News Analysis: Are chambers laundering government money?,  Council considering $56K for Chamber, Visitor’s Center, Chamber financials reflect inconsistencies

  • BW Town Council passes first reading on budget

    BLYTHEWOOD – Town Council passed first reading of its 2018-19 budget Tuesday evening. The proposed $1,565,632 budget reflects $202,111 in building permits and fees, an increase of $17,111 over last year. Council also sees business licenses inside the town increasing from $94,871 to $113,351 and business licenses outside the town increasing from $80,188 to $92,491.

    Town Hall salaries include a three percent cost of living and a three percent merit based pot. A sum of $9,250 is set aside in the budget for boardwalk security cameras in the park and $3,500 for supplies for the amphitheater.

    The annual economic development grant for the Greater Blythewood Chamber of Commerce will increase from $15,000 to $17,500, and is funded out of the general fund.  The Town’s contingency fund is set at $119,877. Council has proposed to increase the visitor’s center funding from accommodation tax to $20,500 from $18,500, and the Historical Society’s funding from $20,500 to $21,500. Council also proposes to fund The Greater Blythewood Chamber of Commerce with $10,000 of accommodation tax revenue for The Big Grab in September, an increase of $1,250 over last year.

    A public hearing and second and final vote on the budget will be held during the June 25 council meeting.