Keep Jasper County Beautiful representative requests accommodation-tax funding for expanded litter crew
Loading...
Summary
A presenter representing Keep Jasper County Beautiful told the Jasper County Transportation Committee the program removed about 73.6 tons of litter last year, reached thousands of students, and asked the county to fund an additional litter crew through the accommodation tax to keep up with growth.
A representative of Keep Jasper County Beautiful asked the Jasper County Transportation Committee on Thursday for additional funding from the county’s accommodation tax to create a second litter crew, saying the program cannot keep up with litter driven by recent construction and population growth.
The presenter, who identified herself as affiliated with Keep Jasper County Beautiful and the local conservation district, told the committee volunteers collected about 38 tons of litter from July 1 to March 31 and the program’s litter crew collected about 35.6 tons, for a combined total of 73.6 tons over the year. She said roughly 1,500 volunteers contributed almost 4,000 hours to the program.
"Keep Jasper County Beautiful is my passion and my job," the presenter said, summarizing outreach and operational work. She described partnerships with South Carolina Department of Transportation on Adopt-a-Highway (32 groups), with Palmetto Pride as the state affiliate, and with local schools, which the program has enrolled in an Adopt-a-Campus effort.
Why it matters: the presenter said the program’s statewide litter-index score improved from about 3.1 in 2020 to about 2.1 countywide and argued that an additional county-funded crew would provide the daily "boots on the ground" needed to maintain roads and support economic development and community pride.
Program features and incentives noted by the presenter included a statewide tarp-check campaign that supplies free tarps to truck drivers who arrive untarped at recycling centers, a $250 incentive for schools that perform post-game cleanups, school-based education reaching more than 4,200 students, and a community-service placement arrangement with the Department of Corrections and probation/parole that contributed about 2,100 hours last year.
The presenter also told the committee she had calculated a return on investment: including all program funding the ROI was about 5:1, and counting only Jasper County contributions she estimated a roughly 9:1 return, saying county funding would be cost-effective compared with hiring staff.
On enforcement, she credited Department of Natural Resources game wardens with more than $16,000 in fines written last year for litter-related violations and said law enforcement helps with enforcement but that the county needs a designated enforcement officer or similar capacity.
Committee members thanked the presenter, asked for clarification on the tonnage breakdown (she confirmed the 38 tons were volunteers and 35.6 tons the litter crew), and encouraged her to apply for county funds and to notify the county when state CTC meetings or grant opportunities arise. No formal vote or commitment of county funding occurred; the presenter left the committee with the request and additional follow-up suggested.
The meeting adjourned after a motion to close and an "aye" vote by members.
