COLOMBIA – SC legislators are deciding this week how to pay for a new state office that will face the effects of extreme weather conditions.
But when Governor Henry McMaster drew up his 2021 budget proposal for the Office of Resilience, he asked nothing for the central office fund to pay for flood management projects.
The revolving fund was a key part of the law passed last year to create the new resilience group. Counties, cities and towns can apply for different federal programs if they want to buy and remove homes that are flooded repeatedly, for example. But they usually have to provide local funds for the project, sometimes a quarter of the total cost.
McMaster’s $ 250,000 request for the job, enough to hire a new boss and assistant, “is not enough to even think about acquisitions or resilience,” said State Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, R-Murrells Inlet.
Goldfinch drew up the original design that suggested the revolving fund.
A McMaster spokesman, Brian Symmes, wrote in an e-mail that part of the work of the new group is already being done by the existing Disaster Recovery Office, which will be absorbed by the resilience group.
“The end result is that the governor cannot recommend additional funding in the Executive Budget until the Office of Resilience is operational and its needs can be properly assessed and examined,” wrote Symmes.
The state also faces unstable revenue projections this year, as the coronavirus pandemic has undermined public budgets.
State Representative Murrell Smith, Republican chairman of the Budget Ways and Means Committee, said McMaster’s general budget proposal recognized “difficult and uncertain economic times” by setting aside $ 500 million in a reserve fund.
Smith said budget writers found a way to maintain that reserve fund and send $ 50 million to the new resilience fund as well. That is the amount he expects to see in the first draft budget that is being prepared in the Chamber this week. Goldfinch said he also wanted to see $ 50 million sent to the fund.
“I think it is important, now that we have enacted the legislation, that we fund it to show that we take resilience efforts seriously,” said Smith.
McMaster has not yet appointed a new resilience director to lead the agency. The flood secretary would be confirmed by the state Senate and lead the cabinet while he presented a state plan to reduce the damage caused by severe storms and other events.
While lawmakers refine their approach to financing, flood risk is an urgent problem for those living along the Waccamaw River and the Intracoastal Waterway. The two watercourses in Horry County increased to a high level of flooding in mid-February and were still gradually decreasing in early March.
Residents along the two rivers have been flooded many times in recent years, including Hurricane Matthew 2016 and Hurricane Florence 2018. This most recent event was only preceded by several days of consistent rain.
Horry County has asked the existing disaster office for $ 17 million to purchase homes to remove houses and leave the land open. About 75 families were included in the application, county spokeswoman Kelly Moore said. They have yet to receive any word from the state about how much money can be awarded.
Talk to Chloe Johnson at 843-735-9985. Follow her on Twitter @_ChloeAJ.