Beaufort County sues its own auditor, citing his ‘failure and refusal’ to do his job
Beaufort County sued auditor Jim Beckert on Friday for “a failure and refusal” to perform his duties as an elected official.
In the lawsuit, the county alleges that Beckert has made “frequent threats or promises not to do things that state law plainly requires him to do.”
“Beckert has repeatedly sought to usurp the powers of other officials and officers and to avoid fulfilling his legal obligations when they are at odds with his own personal wishes,” the suit reads.
Beckert did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday afternoon.
According to the suit, the county asked the South Carolina Department of Revenue to investigate Beckert’s behavior and direct him to comply with the law, but the department declined.
The county is represented by M. Dawes Cook and John Fletcher of Charleston-based law firm Barnwell Whaley Patterson & Helm LLC. It’s asking for:
- A court order called a writ of mandamus, requiring a government or elected official to carry out their legally required duties;
A declaratory judgment that defines the relationship between the county and auditor and each parties’ rights in this situation;
Temporary and permanent injunctive relief,” which would allow the court to intervene in the issue before reaching a decision on the lawsuit.
What the County claims Beckert did
The lawsuit included several allegations that Beckert broke local or state law, including:
- Refusing to include a law enforcement service fee on Hilton Head Island residents’ tax bills;
Increasing the tax rate for the county’s Rural & Critical Lands debt service fund without consulting anyone else, which resulted in hefty legal fees for the county and delayed tax bills for fiscal year 2020;
Not assessing and collecting special tax district revenue from the Burlington Land, O’Neal Place, Pleasant Farm, Robin Wood and Woodland Estates & Burlington Estates special tax districts;
Not producing an “abatement book” for each fiscal year, which is included in end-of-year financial statements for Beaufort County and Beaufort County School District, “as far back as 2017”;
Intervening in an appeal of his ruling on a property’s status as a primary or secondary residence, which is against state law;
Refusing to adopt Beaufort County Assessor Ebony Sanders’ valuations;
Refusing to calculate interest on tax underpayments and overpayments;
Stopping the delivery of taxpayers’ requests for refunds to the county’s Assessor and Treasurer;
Not enforcing Beaufort County Council’s decisions to grant a special tax assessment to “rehabilitated historic property” or “low and moderate income rental property” under the “Bailey Bill”;
Sending “defamatory letters to Beaufort County’s external auditors”
Having an employee “file a baseless grievance against Beaufort County’s general counsel, in an effort to gain leverage in his issues with Beaufort County.”
Other lawsuits against Beckert
This is the fourth lawsuit filed against Beckert in the past 12 months.
Beaufort County treasurer Maria Wall sued Beckert in August, claiming he harassed, stalked and secretly recorded her.
Three weeks later, former county chief financial officer Alicia Holland sued Beckert for harassment and verbal abuse, claiming his actions made her physically sick and led her to resign. Her lawsuit, which also includes Beaufort County as a defendant, was transferred to federal court in October.
The county sued Beckert in September over his refusal to bill Hilton Head residents for the county’s proposed law enforcement fee. That lawsuit has since been consolidated into Hilton Head’s lawsuit against Beaufort County.
On June 28, Beaufort County Council voted 6-5 to ask Beaufort County voters in November whether they want to change the county’s form of government, giving the county power to make the auditor and treasurer non-elected positions.
Beckert was last elected in 2018 and is serving a four-year term.
This story was originally published July 9, 2021 at 4:16 PM.