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County gets proactive on full-funding Council will express concerns in letters BY ADRIENNE SARVIS adrienne@theitem.com During its meeting on Tuesday, Sumter County Council took proactive measures regarding the local government fund and potential changes regarding county-operated capital projects by voting to have letters written to voice its members' concerns on both issues. Sumter County Administrator Gary Mixon told council members that South Carolina Association of Coun-
Development Board CEO defends design of new building
ties encourages its member councils to take early action and contact local delegates about the need for full local government funding. The counties have not been receiving the full amount of funding that is required by law, said council chairwoman Vivian Fleming-McGhaney. All council members agreed that the letter should include specific reasons why Sumter County needs the funding. Fleming-McGhaney said the letter should also note how the county has been frugal with the money it has received as well as what could be done if the county received full funding. A second letter regarding capital projects is intended to go to South Car-
olina Department of Revenue, which has taken legal measures to regulate how Richland County uses its transportation sales tax money. Sumter County Attorney Johnathan Bryan said a judge ordered SCDOR to release the money that it held from Richland County. However, the judge did not rule on whether SCDOR can regulate the use of those funds. Fleming-McGhaney said although SCDOR has not made comments or taken any action indicating that it has plans to regulate how Sumter County spends its capital penny sales tax money, it is in the county's best interest to express concerns regarding the possible restrictions for Richland County.
This could affect capital projects in Sumter and other counties later on, she said. Also, county council approved first reading of an ordinance to amend the county zoning ordinances to permit the reduction of the required fall-zone setbacks for cellphone towers. The current ordinance requires that the fall-zone setback match the height of the tower, said Sumter City-County Planning Department Director George McGregor. He said towers usually fall short of the full fall zone setback if the structures do fall.
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National Anthem Project lights up Patriot Hall
BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com Sumter City Councilwoman Colleen Yates said she has a great deal of respect for what the Sumter Economic Development Board has done for Sumter. “The development board is to be very highly commended, (they are) hard working and loyal to SumYATES ter,” Yates said. “They brought us Continental Tire.” The Sumter Economic Development Board is funded by a threeway partnership of Sumter County, the City of Sumter and the Sumter Smarter Growth Initiative, as the lead economic development organization in the Sumter community, according to its website at www. sumteredge.com. The Development Board's mission is to increase per capita income by creating jobs and luring capital investment to our community, the website says. Yates, however, has long been active in preserving the historic look of downtown Sumter, and it should not surprise anyone that she is not a fan of the modern style of the Downtown Development Headquarters building which will be built on Liberty Street. She says many of her constituents are not fans of the new building, either. “Nobody says it's just ‘an ugly building,’” she said. “People come up with ungodly comments.” Supporters of the building, however, say the process of funding and designing the building has been done transparently and in the open, and critics had the opportunity to make their opinions known sooner. The City’s $750,000 portion of funding for the building was approved at an April 19 meeting of the City Council. Minutes from the meeting show that City Manager Deron McCormick told the Council the county was also committing $750,000 for the building and another $1 million would be raised from private funds. The City’s portion was to come from the Utility Fund, McCormick said. The minutes show Yates was in attendance and the funding was passed unanimously.
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PHOTOS BY KEITH GEDAMKE / THE SUMTER ITEM
Members of the Sumter School District’s chorus and band programs, above, perform a medley of armed forces songs for the crowd attending the 12th annual National Anthem Project at Patriot Hall on Tuesday evening. The Dreamworks Dance team, left, performs to “Rise Up” during the National Anthem Project performance on Tuesday.
Trustees question differences in school supply lists BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com In response to questions from parents, Sumter School District trustee Johnny Hilton Jr. asked why there is a great deal of disparity across the district in schools' classroom supply lists at the board of trustees meeting Monday evening. “There is a hodge-podge of different methods of budgeting for supplies,” Hilton said. “In some schools, teachers have a lot of autonomy, in other schools teachers have to ask for supplies.” He said buying all the items on the lists can add up to from $50 to $100 in costs for parents.
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Sumter School District Superintendent Frank Baker, back, presents teachers from Millwood Elementary School the traveling trophy in recognition of the school’s victory in the district’s multiplication bee at Monday’s trustee meeting. “To me it places a hardship on parents,” he said. Hilton said that each school receives $70 per student for instructional supplies but while some ask parents to provide supplies,
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others provide everything the students need. “Why can’t all schools do it?” he asked. Superintendent Frank Baker said principals have different ways to allocate
money for supplies, and some principals use some of the money for health room supplies, which is allowed. “How do we take this back-door taxation off the parents?” trustee Ralph Canty Sr. asked. He suggested the school district come up with a strategy for dealing with school supplies. Baker said the purchase of school supplies is not mandatory for the parents and the district receives support from businesses and parents. “Some parents buy two so another child doesn’t have to,” he said. “We need to look at the
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3 SECTIONS, 18 PAGES VOL. 121, NO. 279
Cooler today with chance of afternoon thunderstorms; tonight, mostly clear and humid. HIGH 82, LOW 69
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