Council to Look at Budget, Consider Library Board Appointment
Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer
Anderson County Council will consider zoning changes for Center Rock, a code enforcement partnership, a federal sports fish grant, the upcoming fiscal year 2026-27 budget, and a potentially controversial library board appointment that Vice Chairman Brett Sanders will bring forward on behalf of District 4 as part of Tuesday’s meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the historic courthouse.
Before the regular meeting at 6:30, council gathers at 6 p.m. for a special presentation honoring Jack Zarrouf as the recipient of the South Carolina Association of Counties 2026 Board of Directors Scholarship for Anderson County. Zarrouf is an Eagle Scout, a National Merit commended student, a captain of the T.L. Hanna and USA Swimming teams, a University of South Carolina Top Scholar finalist, and the author of a published study on the effects of video games on sleep habits that was presented at a national medical conference. He is also, this fall, a freshman chemistry student at USC, where he intends to develop affordable pharmaceuticals.
Council will also proclaim June 2026 as “Forging Strong Fathers and Families Month,” in partnership with the South Carolina Center for Fathers and Families, which has operated statewide since 2002 and now reaches all 46 counties through its Father365 network.
Council looks at the fiscal year 2026-2027 operating and capital budget, which Vice Chairman Sanders has described as bare-bones — a draft held to essentials while the state works through its own budget process and the numbers that flow from Columbia remain unsettled.
What the draft cuts: county council recreation funding, council travel reimbursements, and the special appropriations that have historically flowed to nonprofit organizations from county coffers. What it preserves: debt service on the new detention center, 27 state-mandated jail positions, a three-tenths mill increase dedicated to the Anderson County Library, and assistance funding for county residents attending Tri-County Technical College. Council members said the final budget that emerges from the process may look considerably different from the one presented Tuesday.
Several ordinances are expected to pass on third reading, including an ordinance adjusting the composition of the Anderson County Disabilities and Special Needs Board, and a separate measure transferring a utility easement at 1428 Pearman Dairy Road to Piedmont Natural Gas Company. Both carry public hearings.
On second reading are two zoning map amendments: one adopting a new official zoning map for the Center Rock Voting Precinct, which requested the change, and one rezoning a half-acre parcel in the Five Forks Precinct from Industrial Park District I-2 to Highway Commercial District C-2. On first reading is an ordinance to transfer two county-owned parcels — 106 Biggs Street and 704 Lewis Street — to Habitat for Humanity of Anderson, a transaction that moves surplus government property toward its most productive possible use.
Council will vote on a $1 million South Carolina Department of Natural Resources grant for Green Pond. The Sport Fish Grant, the details of which will be presented by County Administrator Rusty Burns.
Council will also consider an intergovernmental agreement with the Town of Williamston for shared code enforcement services — a practical arrangement between neighboring jurisdictions that has more significance for Williamston, which lacks its own enforcement capacity, than its quiet placement on the agenda might suggest.
Sanders, who is not running for reelections will bring forward a candidate with an outspoken record of political advocacy for a library board appointment for District 4.
Full agenda here.
