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Thursday, March 28, 2024 - 04:43 PM

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

First Published in 1994

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF
UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

A month after the political party primaries are over, and people go on vacation waiting for the November General Election before engaging their political brains, the filing period for non-partisan school board candidates will open.

In Greenville County six of twelve board seats are up for reelection. If the electorate bothers to pay attention, most will be replaced. Several members of this board were elected and rose to power with the aid of individuals and organizations using tactics advocated by Saul Alinsky in his book, Rules for Radicals, dedicated to Lucifer. Their campaigns were funded by tens of thousands of special interest dollars. Some of these special interests benefited financially and politically from the takeover of the school board.

Faced with a legal limit on debt by the South Carolina Constitution, the school board found a New York created loophole, formed a “dummy” corporation (BEST) to legally circumvent the State Constitution and borrow in excess of one billion dollars using the equity of Greenville County property owners.

The South Carolina Legislature quickly passed prohibitive legislation that was signed into law by the Governor, making the “Greenville Plan” illegal in the future, but not in time to stop the overwhelming debt on the property owners of Greenville County.

It was not surprising that the “dummy” corporation board of directors consists of former school board members, that the Chairman of the school board and the developer who developed the “plan” formed a corporation and were given a multi-million dollar contract to manage the building program.

Another board chairman was hired by a major school construction contractor and rapidly rose to vice president of the corporation.

Apparently all of the above was legal and no laws were broken in this process, however it is well-known throughout the nation, that South Carolina has some of the weakest procurement and ethics laws in the nation. Many Greenville County residents will be paying taxes to New York bankers for the remainder of their lives. Some will be unable to pay and lose their homes, while a few insiders, thanks to the school board, may have had an opportunity of a lifetime.

It is not surprising to those who have been paying attention that much of the billion dollars with interest will hit property owners in the pocketbook for more than two decades in the future regardless of the economic situation. Nor should it be a surprise that the new schools that were said by promoters of the building scheme to be the answer to district building needs are now in need of renovation and major repairs.

The school board revealed last week that by next year, according to current projections, the school district will fall short $14.3 million in sufficient funds to pay for the building program for the school year 2013-2014. Unless cutbacks are made in current plans, another tax increase will be necessary. The board approved a tax increase to support operating cost increases in their budget last year.

This tax increase would result in a 20 percent increase in property taxes for school district construction debt, or more than a $30 increase in taxes on a home assessed by the county at $100,000.

The school board established 42.5 mills in taxes to pay off the billion dollar construction debt. As reassessments of personal and business property and new construction increased the value of a mill, rather than lowering the mills assessed, the board borrowed more money and kept the mills the same.

It is time for a new school board. It is one of the most powerful positions in the county. The pay is good. The perks are exceptional. Winner takes all in November and will serve for 4 years.

It is an opportunity to preside over an annual operating budget approaching half a billion dollars and a billion dollar debt.

More importantly, it is an opportunity to represent the taxpayers honorably and target these millions to the classroom and the students.

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