County Council OKs spending $20M to save land

BEAUFORT -- Beaufort County property owners are likely to face a small tax increase later this year to pay for the quickening pace of land preservation.

On Monday, the County Council unanimously voted to authorize borrowing an additional $20 million for its preservation program. Two additional votes are required to make the authorization final. This follows a similar authorization the council made last year, also for $20 million.

To repay that $40 million, county controller Tom Henrikson said he estimates needing a tax increase in the next budget year that would cost the live-in owner of a $200,000 home roughly $16 more per year.

In terms of dollars spent and land protected, the pace of land preservation in the county has picked up dramatically in the last year.

"The last six months, really," Henrikson said.

From 1997 to 2007, the program had preserved about 11,000 acres through donations and the purchase of land or development rights. The acreage total today is closer to 16,000, when including a major deal that is currently pending.

While the need for the extra $20 million isn't immediate, land preservation officials said more preservation deals are coming soon that warrant the additional borrowing.

COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR TO GET RAISE

The council unanimously agreed Monday to give county administrator Gary Kubic a pay increase.

Chairman Weston Newton said council members would determine how to raise Kubic's pay at their next meeting, scheduled for Feb. 11.

Newton said the increase could come through a combination of a salary raise, a bonus, a retirement fund contribution or an increase in his car allowance.

Kubic currently receives an annual salary of roughly $164,000.

$16.5 MILLION IN PUBLIC PROJECTS

The council initially approved a $16.5 million bond issue Monday for improvements to parks, boat landings and other public projects in Beaufort County.

Funding for the 11 projects, all of which were approved individually last year, will come up for a final vote at the council's Feb. 11 meeting.

The projects include the new Buckwalter Recreational Community Center in Bluffton, improvements at the C.C. Haigh Jr. boat landing on Pinckney Island, four traffic cameras on Bluffton Parkway, and stabilizing buildings at the Coastal Discovery Museum at Honey Horn.

Jeremy Hsieh of The Beaufort Gazette and Michael Welles Shapiro of The Island Packet contributed to this report.