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Council member questions proposed real and personal property tax levy, flags $40,000 line items
Summary
At an Orangeburg County Council meeting public comment period, a council member identified agenda item No. 5—the real and personal property tax levy—as a concern for taxpayers, questioned two $40,000 line items (one labeled advertising), and raised the county's reported near‑$5 million debt as a financing issue.
A council member at an Orangeburg County Council meeting raised concerns about agenda item No. 5, the proposed real and personal property tax levy, saying as both an elected official and a taxpayer they were troubled by possible tax increases.
"I too, although I'm a council member, I'm a taxpaying citizen and um I take taxes very very seriously," the council member said, adding the levy prompted calls and complaints from residents.
The speaker specifically questioned two line items for about $40,000 each, one described in the transcript as covering advertising. The council member also referred to what they characterized as "almost $5 million in debt" for the county and referenced a recent millage recalculation they received; the speaker asked whether higher taxes were being used to pay down that debt.
The transcript does not record any formal motion, vote, or staff response to the budget or levy questions during this excerpt. The comment was delivered during the public‑comment portion of the meeting and framed as both an appeal for fiscal caution and a request for clarification about how the county would address debt and revenue needs without overburdening taxpayers.
No schedule or next procedural step on the levy was recorded in the provided excerpt of the meeting.
