Finance committee rejects motion to add incentives ‘grid’ to routine yellow-sheet materials

A motion to make a spreadsheet documenting county economic-development incentives part of the routine "yellow-sheet" materials failed in the Charleston County Council finance committee after members split 2–3 on a roll-call vote.

Councilmember Wurman moved the measure, saying the grid would collect key information "so that anybody in the public would know what the numbers are, why we're doing it," and proposed adding a column showing current property taxes collected on the parcels. An attorney read the motion aloud for the committee: the spreadsheet would become part of the yellow-sheet process, include a column outlining current taxes collected on parcels, and remove any columns not legally permissible.

Opponents argued the information is already available in existing yellow sheets and warned that publishing some fields could conflict with legal confidentiality. Councilmember Moody called the proposal "woefully...out of order" and said staff already prepares yellow-sheet materials; another member voiced concern that staff would face an extra burden if the new sheet were posted routinely. Proponents, including Councilmember Kabrowski, said posting a consistent, readable spreadsheet would better inform the public: "anybody in the public would know this information about what the council's doing," Kabrowski said.

After discussion, the committee conducted a roll-call vote: Moody — no; Pryor — no; Wurman — yes; Middleton — no; Kabrowski — yes. The motion failed 2–3. Committee members then continued with the meeting's other business, moving to human-resources and finance agenda items.

The vote leaves the proposal in the record but not adopted; proponents said they intend to refine the proposal and clarify which columns can be publicly released under state rules before asking for further action.