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Aiken council moves first reading on budget amendment covering legal settlement payments and opioid funds
Summary
On first reading the council approved a FY2025–26 budget amendment reallocating $200,000 to cover legal-fee payments for plaintiffs in Blake et al. v. City of Aiken, $85,000 to repay an SBA balance for the Center of African American History, Arts, and Culture, $182,284 from the state opioid settlement to local treatment providers, and a $40,000 grant match for historic-preservation work.
The Aiken City Council, during its Feb. 9 meeting, approved on first reading a budget-amendment ordinance that reallocates multiple line items for fiscal year 2025–26.
City staff told council the amendment includes a $200,000 adjustment to account for legal-fee payments to plaintiffs in Blake et al. v. City of Aiken. The staff report said the city received a check and the funds will be used to remit payments to plaintiffs’ counsel for distribution to individuals and entities involved in the claim.
The amendment also includes an $85,000 repayment toward a Federal Small Business Administration balance the Center of African American History, Arts, and Culture took out in 2016; staff said repaying the balance would remove the building’s collateralized status now that the city owns the property and would let the nonprofit focus fundraising on capital improvements.
Separately, staff proposed accounting for $182,284 from the South Carolina opioid recovery fund to the Aiken Center for Alcohol and Drug Abuse for medical supplies and Department of Public Safety support related to the opioid response. The ordinance also contains a $40,000 grant-match allocation tied to a recent award from the South Carolina Historic Preservation Office.
Council moved and took a voice vote on the ordinance’s first reading; staff said the amendment will return for a second reading and formal adoption. The council did not alter the amounts in public discussion during the meeting.
