Beaufort Co. is floating a plan to change its form of government. How that works
Beaufort County is floating a plan that would ask voters to make the county’s auditor and treasurer non-elected positions that report to the county executive.
The plan to change the county’s form of government is one of two major issues Beaufort County Council is pushing to bring to voters either this year or next. The other is a 1% local-option sales tax referendum on all purchases countywide.
Beaufort County’s executive committee, chaired by Paul Sommerville, publicly broached the idea this week to change the county’s government structure from council-administrator to council-manager. Under the current form of government, utilized by 74% of county governments in South Carolina, the treasurer and auditor are elected by voters and serve four-year terms.
The new form of government would give the council power to appoint the two positions. Officials plan to discuss it at length in future committee meetings, Sommerville said.
This week’s brief discussion, which comes after extensive acrimony and run-ins involving the council, Auditor Jim Beckert and Treasurer Maria Walls, appears to be the council’s solution to their problems with Beckert. Last year, Walls and former County Chief Financial Officer Alicia Holland filed separate lawsuits against Beckert, claiming he harassed, bullied, verbally abused and lied about them for years.
County property owners’ tax bills were also delayed last year due to a volatile tax-rate dispute between the council and Beckert. In court filings and pointed public statements, each side blamed the other for the delay.
Both Beckert and Walls were first elected to their positions in 2014 and re-elected in 2018. Their terms expire in 2022.
Beckert did not return a call for comment Thursday.
In a statement texted to a reporter Thursday, Walls said her position as an elected official has allowed her to perform her job without layers of bureaucracy.
“I empathize with the unfortunate position Council is in,” the statement said. “Instead of simply taking the voters’ voice away, it’s time Council speak up about the real issue. Should this move forward, I hope they will be forthcoming and honest with voters as to why they believe this course of action is necessary and not save those discussions for private settings.”
Sommerville, who led this week’s discussion, has advocated for Beckert’s removal from office in the wake of the harassment suits. Sommerville also said the council had no power to remove him without an order from the governor.
But, he told a reporter Wednesday, the change in government structure wouldn’t be in direct response to the county’s issues with Beckert.
“I don’t think it makes any difference who the auditor is and who the treasurer is — whether you have an incredibly competent person or you have someone who isn’t competent,” he said. “We want to put some requirements in there. I think the overall problem transcends individual personalities.”
Sommerville said he supports the change because it gives council the authority to fix problems with the auditor and treasurer positions, and it gives the county’s CEO — called a manager — power to hire qualified candidates instead of holding an election.
“For something technical, you can argue that maybe there should be requirements for that position. There are none,” he said. “The only requirement is you have to be able to fog up a mirror.”
But Council member Brian Flewelling said he thinks the proposed referendum is “vindictive” against Beckert.
The county proposed a similar referendum in 2012, but 63.07% of voters shot it down.
“It’s probably not smart to put that on the ballot because the voters have already turned it down,” Flewelling said. Council members “are playing some game, and voters don’t like that. They like everything out in the open and transparent, and this is not transparent.”
Forms of government
There are four forms of government in South Carolina allowed by state law:
▪ Council
▪ Council-supervisor
▪ Council-administrator
▪ Council-manager
Of the 46 counties in the state, 34, including Beaufort County, operate under the council-administrator form of government.
That current form of government gives a professional administrator responsibility of the day-to-day operations of the county. The administrator is hired and reports to the county’s elected council.
If the proposed referendum is approved by voters, Beaufort County would join only two counties, York and Greenwood, that operate under the council-manager form of government.
Council-manager is similar to council-administrator in that the administrator or manager oversees county operations and reports to the elected council. The only real difference is that, in the council-manager form, the auditor and treasurer may be appointed by council rather than elected.
If council decides to appoint the two positions, they would serve as department heads hired by the county manager instead of elected officials.
Sommerville said Wednesday that the council’s executive committee would discuss the proposed referendum at its next meeting, which likely won’t be for another month.
“I’ve been singing this song for a long time,” he said. “We’re going to keep talking about it.”
