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Beaufort County treasurer urges council to approve staffing funding, criticizes county legal spending
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Summary
Elected County Treasurer Maria Walls presented a $2.901 million FY2027 request and told council that litigation over $73,000 in employee compensation has cost the county nearly $700,000; she asked for clearer communication and council oversight to prevent harm to employees and operations.
Elected County Treasurer Maria Walls presented her fiscal 2027 budget request to the Beaufort County Council on April 27, urging support for personnel funding and greater transparency in county decision-making.
"The budget I've requested reflects my continued focus to operate my office responsibly, to support my staff, and to serve the taxpayers of this county," Walls said, noting she has served in the treasurer's office for 15 years and as elected treasurer for 11.
Walls told the council that testimony in recent court proceedings established county human-resources rules are set out in the county personnel handbook but that county administrators said under oath they do not have authority to enforce those policies in the treasurer's office. "That framework being relied upon from the personnel handbook is what they were basing their presentations on," she said, and the testimony raised questions about the basis for actions taken against treasurer's staff.
Walls described litigation that began over a directive to provide approximately $73,000 in compensation across 25 employees that she said were already within an approved budget. She said county legal fees for the matter approached $700,000 while her office's legal fees were a fraction of that amount. "Nearly $700,000 in taxpayer dollars have been spent fighting $73,000 in earned compensation," she said.
Council members asked questions about the treasurer's staffing request and a large software implementation. Walls said the FY2027 request totals $2,901,000 and that the increase over the current year—about $336,000—is entirely personnel. She told council some modules of a recently contracted software product are not completed, including tax-sale and delinquency functions.
On service locations, Walls said the Hilton Head branch historically handles far fewer transactions (40–50 payments a day versus 700 a day at higher-volume offices) and that reopening or restaffing that office would be difficult to justify given hiring challenges and comparative workload.
Walls asked council for a renewed level of engagement and oversight: "As a governing body, your ability to make sound decisions depends on you having a clear and complete understanding of what is happening within your organization." She also offered to participate in a workshop to explain millage-neutrality and tax-bill presentation so councilors can better answer constituent questions.
The council heard the presentation and followed with questions; no formal vote or action on the treasurer's request occurred that evening.
