County auditor wouldn’t put Hilton Head police fee on tax bills. Now it’s going to court
Beaufort County’s auditor, already facing two lawsuits alleging harassment and verbal abuse of female officials, is now being sued by the county, which alleges he’s refusing to do his job.
In a complaint filed Friday, Beaufort County accuses Auditor Jim Beckert, an elected official, of refusing to “perform a ministerial act” required by state law and county ordinance.
The lawsuit stems from Beaufort County Council’s decision to impose a law enforcement service fee on Hilton Head residents’ tax bills this year. The fee would range from $88 to $101 each year for residential property owners and $33 to $242 each year for commercial property owners on the island.
While Hilton Head leaders are fighting the fee in the courts, Beaufort County is now suing its own auditor, saying he has refused to implement it.
Beckert did not immediately return a call Monday for comment on the complaint.
The complaint says Beckert “indicated” he will not “fulfill his ministerial duty” to impose the law enforcement service fee.
The complaint asks the court to force Beckert to “appropriately and correctly” apply the user fee to Hilton Head property owners’ tax bills. It also asks “for all such other relief as the court deems equitable, just, and proper.”
Property tax rolls are supposed to be open for payments by Sept. 30, according to the county’s website.
Council Chair Joe Passiment said Monday that the county filed the suit to “make sure [Beckert] is doing his job.”
“We’re concerned because he has been very resistant about doing things so county staff has gone ahead and prepared everything he was supposed to prepare,” he said. “Whether or not he is going to actually put them on the bill, I don’t know. This is an unfortunate situation.”
Administrator Ashley Jacobs said Monday that Beckert’s staff was working on the tax bills “today.”
The ongoing battle over the police service fee illustrates the divide between town and county leaders on how to balance Hilton Head’s vital tourism economy with its financial obligations to the rest of the county.
Although Hilton Head brings in the county’s majority share of tourism taxes and has the largest population of the county’s four municipalities, it’s the only municipality without its own police force.
The approved fee would pay for Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office services to the island — which Beaufort County and an outside consulting firm value at about $4.3 million.
Hilton Head is now suing the county for the fee, appearing to use a legal argument raised by Beckert last week. The town alleges that the county must establish a special tax district to implement a user fee for Hilton Head residents. To create such a district, South Carolina requires 15% of voters in the proposed district to petition the government. No such petition has been created on Hilton Head.
But the town’s argument has been challenged by other counties where fees have been added for residents. Kelly Moore, public information officer for Horry County, said Sept. 11 that her county enacted two user fees without special tax districts.
“One does not beget the other,” she said.
Still, Hilton Head argues that its extra payment to the county for Sheriff’s Office services represents unfair taxation.
The town’s suit says town taxes paid for 39% of the $135 million Beaufort County budget last year, but that service to Hilton Head costs the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office only 13% of its $33.4 million budget, which is part of the county’s budget.
In its complaint against Beckert, the county says, since 1983, it has provided “high quality” police services to Hilton Head “far and above” what it provides to other municipalities, and those services need to be paid for.
The ordinance approved by the county in late August states that the new user fee will be “collected in the same manner as real property taxes and shall be subject to the same penalties and interest as overdue real property taxes.”
The complaint against Beckert says he, as the county’s auditor, has “the legal duty and obligation to prepare accurate bills for taxes and other charges and fees.”
Without the user fee, the complaint says, county residents living outside of Hilton Head “would be forced to bear the burden of police/law enforcement services provided only for the benefit of the town, which are above and beyond the services normally provided by the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.”
Other problems with the auditor
Beckert has other legal problems.
Late last week, county officials moved the auditor’s office away from the administration building to “preserve the rights of all individuals involved in current lawsuits as they make their way through the courts.”
This past month, County Treasurer Maria Walls and former County Chief Financial Officer Alicia Holland filed two separate suits against Beckert, claiming he harassed, bullied, verbally abused and lied about them for years.
Walls’ suit also accused Beckert of stalking, secretly recording her and making inappropriate comments about her pregnancy.
Beckert has declined to comment on the two suits.
