By Stan Welch
The Piedmont Public Service Commission is moving ahead with their efforts to produce a balanced budget, despite the real possibility of a significant drop in revenues from Greenville County for the coming fiscal year.
Craig Lawless, Assistant Chief and Administrator for the public service district, said Monday night that “The projected revenue from Greenville County is down a good bit. We don’t have an exact number, but apparently a fairly large taxpaying facility was mistakenly included in the district and now is being backed out.”
Chief Tracy Wallace told the bare quorum of commissioners who were present that he will be attending the annual Legislative Day at the General Assembly next week and has a meeting scheduled with Senator Billy O’Dell and officials of the Department of Revenue to review the situation.
Commission chairman Ed Poore underwent surgery Monday morning and Commissioner Bobby Higgins suffered a death in his family just hours prior to the meeting, making them unable to attend.
The Commission plans another budget workshop once they get the final figures from the state and Greenville County. State law establishing public service districts requires that they present and adopt a balanced budget.
In other business, recreation committee chairwoman Lib Pack reported that the ball fields were used for a total of 33.5 hours in April and the community building was used for 37 hours, generating $400 in revenue.
The fire department has answered a total of one hundred and thirty nine calls through March of this year, down from one hundred fifty eight last year. The difference is almost certainly attributable to the fact that the district is no longer responsible for the repair and maintenance of the sewer system.
