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Dorchester County seeks exemption from three-week newspaper advertising for short-term county property leases
Summary
Sen. Mounts presented SB797 to let Dorchester County lease property for five years or less without the current three-week newspaper advertisement requirement; sponsor said online posting would remain but agreed to confirm where it would appear.
Senate Bill 797, presented by Senator Mounts on behalf of Dorchester County, would exempt Dorchester County from a statutory requirement to advertise proposed county property leases in the newspaper for three weeks when the lease term is five years or less.
"This legislation would give the county an exemption and it would allow it to lease property for 5 years or less without doing that 3 week notice," Senator Mounts said, explaining the request came from the county and its delegation.
Mounts said county officials reported staffing and budget pressures that make compliance with the newspaper-advertising requirement difficult. He said the county would still publish notices online.
Delegate Foley asked whether the leases would be posted at all and whether online posting meant the county website. Mounts replied the county would post notices online and that he would verify exactly where the notice would be posted and provide that clarification to committee members and the subcommittee chair.
Mounts also told the committee the change had been discussed for years locally and that given the county's fiscal pressures it would "ease their operations" though it would not solve larger deficits.
The hearing transcript records the sponsor offering to provide the committee with the precise posting location; no formal committee vote is recorded in the transcript.
