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Council debates $10,000 planning-commission travel fund to support site visits
Summary
Councilors discussed adding a $10,000 line in the planning department budget to reimburse planning commissioners' travel and related expenses for field site visits; some members suggested a larger amount and staff said a line item could be added and adjusted midyear.
Greenville County Council members discussed creating a small, designated travel fund for the Planning Commission so commissioners can be reimbursed for mileage and other expenses when they travel to inspect development sites.
Councilor Shaw proposed allocating $10,000 to the Planning Commission to reimburse travel and incidental expenses, saying commissioners who must travel across the county should not have to use personal funds. "I would like to potentially discuss ... allocating about $10,000 for the planning commission to have just for expenses for when they do go out to see these places," Shaw said.
Nut graf: Council members agreed the proposal could improve on-the-ground review of subdivision and development sites, but members suggested different starting amounts. Councilor Long asked whether the amount was per member or total; Shaw clarified the $10,000 would be a single total to be distributed by receipts. "No. That was my thought. It was just 10,000 for the planning commission to deal with their travel," Shaw said.
Several councilors said $10,000 may be modest and suggested starting at a higher figure — one council member suggested $15,000–$20,000 and another (speaking in error) mentioned a much larger figure. County staff recommended the line be placed in the planning department budget under training and travel so it can be tracked and adjusted if necessary. "I would suggest we put it in planning commission, planning department budget and we'll have a separate line item for that so that we can track it," Administrator Cornell said.
Ending: No formal appropriation was made in the workshop; councilors noted they can add a midyear appropriation if the fund proves insufficient and will return the proposal for formal consideration in the usual budget process.
