County Update:New Budget, Roads Referendum, Potential Energy Plant

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

A proposed massive new energy plant near Starr, council passing $331 million budget for 2025-26, and consideration of a referendum asking voters to approve a penny sales tax for roads are at the top of Anderson County’s agenda going into summer.

Earlier this month Duke Energy submitted an application to the Public Service Commission of South Carolina for a 1,400-megawatt natural gas combined cycle generating facility with hydrogen capability on nearly 200 acres located on Highway 81 South near True Temper Road close to Starr. It is the first request by a power company to build a new generation in the state in a decade.

"That would be a huge injection of tax money into Anderson County. It would be huge. And it would be another part of making Anderson energy secure,” said Anderson County Administrator Rusty Burns. “As you know, we have Santee Cooper, and they're expanding right now in the southern part of the county.”

Burns said increased demand for energy has become the primary concern for economic development.

“In the old days in economic development, the first thing they asked about was usually workforce, water, sewer; those were the top three,” said Burns. “Now for a lot of those companies the number one thing at the top is availability of electricity and how many blackouts do you have. If you have a bunch of blackouts, they're not coming. So that's becoming more and more important. And that's just another good thing for Anderson County to have."

Burns said the budget approved for the coming fiscal year by council includes raises for employees and no tax millage increase for taxpayers. Public safety was also given a boost in the budget.

"Council increased by $700,000 the money for the Solicitor's Office,” said Burns. “That's to allow them to improve, modernize, and upgrade some things that they need to do to be more efficient in moving people through the system. We think that's going to really help and really have an impact on the number of people that are incarcerated. Justice should be swift and sure. I think this is going to make it more swift and more sure and move things through the system.”

The budget also allocated funding for the hiring of 16 more detention officers to allow time for their training to serve in the new detention center which is slated to open next year. Tri-County Technical College also received an increase to keep tuition the same for Anderson County students.

“Anderson County is responsible for 50 percent of Tri-County Tech's budget, Pickens 25 percent, Oconee 25 percent,” said Burns. ‘The increase will allow our students from Anderson County to pay the same tuition that students in Pickens and Oconee do. So that's why that was necessary.”

Burns also offered an update on the Capital Funds Tax Committee, comprised of six appointees from the county and municipalities. The group is putting together the referendum which it will unveil at their Monday meeting at 5:30 p.m. at the historic courthouse. The proposed one-cent tax would be used exclusively for road and bridge work, which currently has a backlog of more than $350 million in needed work.

“Nobody will be able to take any of this money and build a building or build a playground or do anything else,” said Burns. “It's roads, bridges, and safety features associated with roads and bridges. That's what that is.”

The wording of this referendum is crucial, because there was a lot of confusion last fall when people voted for a bond issue to fund the roads that you were just voted to not tax.

"There were two questions on the ballot, which could have been confusing,” said Burns. “One of them was, 'Do you approve the penny sales tax?' and then the next one: 'Would you approve borrowing money to jumpstart the process to start paving roads?' Well, the first one failed, not by much, and the second one passed. So, this year it will be one question, clear and distinct, and we're trying to make it as easy to read as you possibly can, having to follow the state statutes to say what it needs to say."

If approved, groceries would be exempt from the penny tax.

Burns offered other updates on these issues as well as mill site renovation across the county, including Equinox, in this interview with the Anderson Observer.