Lancaster County Council gave third reading approval to a $202.1 million budget for fiscal year 2027 on June 22, but only after a lengthy line-by-line review prompted council members to cut roughly $350,000 in proposed spending and scale back the planned tax increase. Council also gave third reading approval to the county’s 10-year capital improvement plan and advanced several other ordinances tied to the new coroner’s office property and a countywide animal control agreement.
The budget vote, the millage adjustment and a series of department-level spending cuts made up the bulk of a meeting that ran more than four hours, including an hour-long executive session. The outcome will directly affect Lancaster County property tax bills for the fiscal year beginning July 1, along with staffing levels in emergency medical services, the sheriff’s office and the new county coroner’s facility.
Citizens raise concerns about airport spending and emergency services funding
During citizens comments, residents Tony McCammon and Kathy Storm pressed council about ongoing deficits at the Lancaster County Airport, saying the facility has run at a roughly $200,000 annual loss covered by transfers from the general fund. McCammon said the airport’s new terminal, originally estimated at $4.5 million, ultimately cost about $7.2 million. Storm asked council to address a list of unanswered questions about hangar occupancy, fuel sales revenue and comparisons with other small airports in South Carolina, and both speakers asked that the topic be placed on a future agenda.
Barbara Scanlon, who spoke during the public hearing on the budget, raised similar concerns about the airport and urged council to develop a long-term, countywide funding mechanism for fire and EMS services rather than addressing staffing shortfalls year to year. The Rev. Eddie Boyd, a Lancaster County School Board member and pastor, spoke about housing affordability and asked council and the community to work together on solutions. Resident Steve Willis, the outgoing interim county administrator, thanked council and county staff for the opportunity to return to county government in recent months.
Council also heard from representatives of the Old English District Tourism Commission, who presented an update on regional tourism marketing efforts, and from a representative of Century Communities regarding the Shiloh Woods development agreement extension later on the agenda.
Consent agenda and early non-consent items
Council approved its consent agenda, which included second reading of two rezoning ordinances: Ordinance 2026-2038, rezoning about 0.565 acres at 2637 Worldreach Drive from general business to regional business, and Ordinance 2026-2040, rezoning an 8.001 acre portion of property on Shiloh Unity Road from institutional to rural residential. Both had been recommended for approval by the planning commission on 5-0 votes and passed 7-0 on second reading June 8.
Council then approved Resolution 1328-R2026, directing staff to pursue a FEMA hazard mitigation grant for emergency management. Interim County Administrator Steve Willis and Emergency Management Chief Greg Nicholson told council the grant would fund a generator for the department’s warehouse, with a total project cost of $107,131, including a $35,710 local match from the county’s grant match account.
Council gave first reading approval to three ordinances tied to the county’s new detention center and coroner’s office construction, granting temporary construction and permanent easements to Duke Energy, Comporium Communications and Lancaster County Natural Gas Authority on county property off South Carolina Highway 9. Willis told council the Duke Energy easement includes both overhead and underground lines along Old Dixie Road, while the other two are entirely underground. He noted there is no easement needed for the Lancaster County Water and Sewer District, since the water meter will sit within the highway right of way.
Council also gave first reading approval to Ordinance 2026-2042, an intergovernmental agreement allowing county animal control ordinances to be enforced inside the city of Lancaster and the towns of Heath Springs, Kershaw and Van Wyck. Willis said the agreement was needed after animal control shifted from the sheriff’s office to the county animal shelter, since county ordinances do not apply inside municipal boundaries without local agreement. He said the change would not require additional staffing because roughly 92 percent of the county’s population lives in unincorporated areas already covered by existing personnel. Council also gave first reading approval to Ordinance 2026-2043, amending the process for appointing the county attorney.
Rezoning case held for applicant, development agreement extended
Council gave second reading approval to Ordinance 2026-2039, rezoning approximately 7.09 acres at 7319 Charlotte Highway from low density residential to neighborhood business. The property, owned by Dr. Rameshbabu, was the subject of planning department case RZ-2026-0503. The planning commission and planning staff both recommended approval, and the case had passed 7-0 on first reading June 8. Planning Director Shannon Catoe told council the applicant was delayed in arriving to address a curb cut question involving access from Charlotte Highway or Charles Pettus Road, both state Department of Transportation roads. Council members discussed tabling the item until the applicant arrived but ultimately voted to approve second reading and address remaining questions at third reading.
Council then held a public hearing and gave third reading approval to Ordinance 2026-2035, extending the development agreement with Century Communities Southeast LLC for the Shiloh Woods project to September 30, 2026. No one signed up to speak at the public hearing, and Catoe told council there had been no changes since second reading. The measure passed on a vote of four in favor and two opposed, with council members Stuart Graham and Jose Luis voting no, consistent with their votes at the two prior readings. Council Member Steve Harper had recused himself on earlier readings.
Budget review prompts line-item cuts
The bulk of the meeting centered on the public hearing and third reading of Ordinance 2026-2036, the fiscal year 2027 operating budget. Budget Director Jamie Privuznak presented the $202.1 million all-funds budget, an increase of $41.9 million, or 26 percent, over the current year, a figure that includes a one-time $36.4 million appropriation from fund balance reserves for nonrecurring expenses. The general fund alone totals $144.1 million, up $41.1 million from the current year.
Privuznak said the budget adds 37 new positions across the general fund, including 15 new positions in emergency medical services tied to a shift from 24-hour to 72-hour EMS shift coverage for some staff beginning January 1, 2027, three new firefighter engineer positions, and 12 new positions at the sheriff’s office connected to the opening of the new detention center. The budget includes across-the-board raises of 5 percent for sworn public safety staff and 4 percent for other county employees.
The proposed operating millage rate for the general fund is 82.7 mills, with total county millage set at 94.1 mills, an increase of 1.5 mills as initially proposed. Privuznak said unaudited reserves stood at $70.2 million as of the end of the prior fiscal year, and that withdrawing the $36.4 million one-time appropriation would leave the county within its policy-mandated fund balance range of 28 to 32 percent of general fund operating expenses.
During discussion, Council Member Stuart Graham, joined at points by Council Member Jose Luis, walked through a series of line items where budgeted amounts substantially exceeded recent actual spending, including funding for a contracted nurse practitioner in the human resources department, HR contract services, a planning and zoning line item tied to the county’s Unified Development Ordinance consulting contract, solid waste collection maintenance, and a traffic impact analysis line item in economic development. County staff, including Privuznak, Human Resources Director Jessica Eason Foggie and a staff member from the economic development department, responded to questions about each line, with some confusion arising over whether certain costs, including sheriff’s office psychological evaluations for new recruits, were being counted in more than one place.
Council Chair Brian Carnes also disclosed that Fire Chief Greg Nicholson had identified an $82,000 shortfall in vehicle maintenance funding for county fire services that needed to be restored to the budget.
After discussion, Graham made a substitute motion amending the budget to reduce several line items: the HR nurse practitioner contract from $142,000 to $70,000, HR contract services from $130,000 to $80,000, the planning and zoning contractual services line tied to the UDO consultant from $160,000 to $80,000, solid waste collection special maintenance from $146,000 to $75,000, and the economic development traffic impact analysis line from $100,000 to $50,000. The motion also added back approximately $82,000 for county fire service vehicle maintenance and removed a previously discussed $17 per hour minimum wage provision and a $125,000 salary classification and compensation study that had been discussed, but not formally voted on, at earlier readings.
Council members also debated $100,000 budgeted for nonprofit awards to community organizations. Council Member Billy Mosteller argued the funds should be redirected toward fire service vehicle maintenance and employee needs given tight finances, while Council Member Charlene McGriff defended the nonprofit funding, citing organizations such as the Lancaster County Council on Aging and Powerhouse soup kitchen. The $100,000 nonprofit award allocation remained in the budget as presented.
Budget review grows tense between council members
The line-item review also produced a sharp exchange between McGriff and Council Member Jose Luis. McGriff, defending department budgets against the cuts Luis and Council Member Stuart Graham were proposing, told Luis that department directors know their own budgets better than council does and that she did not want to see council going through the budget line by line making cuts. “Stay out of my pocketbook,” McGriff told Luis. Luis responded, “Stay out of the constituents’ pocketbook.” McGriff shot back, “No, you stay out of mine.” The chair moved the discussion forward without further response from either member.
The amended motion produced a net budget reduction of roughly $350,000, which council applied toward reducing the proposed millage increase from 1.5 mills to 1 mill. Privuznak confirmed the adjustment would leave the budget balanced with roughly $13,000 to spare. Council approved the amended budget on a vote of six in favor and one opposed.
Council separately voted unanimously to allow the county coroner to negotiate hiring a forensic pathologist as a full-time county employee, a position the coroner said would save money on outside autopsy contracting and travel costs for law enforcement and EMS staff who currently must travel out of county for autopsies and training. Privuznak said the position carries a proposed salary of $310,000, or $427,913 including benefits, and that funding would be reallocated from the office’s existing contractual medical services line item once a final negotiation is complete. The coroner told council the hire would make Lancaster County one of only a few counties in South Carolina with an in-house forensic pathologist.
Capital improvement plan adopted
Council gave third reading approval to Ordinance 2026-2037, amending the county’s 10-year capital improvement plan for fiscal years 2021-22 through 2030-31. County staff member Josiah Parke told council the plan includes 27 capital projects for fiscal year 2027 totaling $43.6 million, including nine new projects that met a $100,000 individual project funding threshold, among them a $6 million new fire station on Harrisburg Road. The measure passed five to two, with Council Member Billy Mosteller again opposed, consistent with his votes at the two prior readings, citing one item he said he had opposed at each reading.
Executive session
Council held an hour-long executive session to receive legal advice on three matters: a development issue in the Indian Land area, a contractual matter involving the expenditure of American Rescue Plan Act funds, and a potential contractual matter tied to an economic development project referred to as Project Magic. County Attorney Ginny Merck-Dupont told council afterward that no motions were made and no votes were taken in executive session.
The next regular meeting of Lancaster County Council is scheduled for July 20.
