Penny tax and block grant funding were on Sumter city, county agendas in the past month

This is the time of year when Sumter County and City of Sumter agendas are dense with the word "budget." With the start of the fiscal year on July 1, Sumter leaders have been hard at work finalizing 2024-25 fiscal year budgets. Additionally, officials have been preparing for the penny tax referendum to show up on the ballot in November. Here are some of the main headlines.

Sumter officials define list for what penny tax could pay for if voters approve it in November election

Improvements to multiple parks, both the City of Sumter's downtown and that of the Town of Mayesville, road improvements and more are on the list for what the penny tax, if approved, might cover.

The 2024 Capital Penny Sales Tax Commission, which is made up of six locals, was the brainpower behind creating the proposed list, and Sumter County Council has the power to vote up or down the list, and they cannot make changes to it, according to earlier reporting from The Sumter Item.

If the Capital Penny Sales Tax, also called the Penny for Progress initiative, gets a majority approval from voters this November, there will be an added charge of 1% of the sales tax imposed that will fund capital projects, and it will be active for no more than seven years if voters approve it.

This added charge of 1% of the sales tax would apply to most items except non-prepared food items (groceries), prescription drugs and medical supplies.

"We firmly believe the projects will move us forward and best prepare our entire community for generations of growth and prosperity," commission member Earl Wilson told council and the public during the May 28 meeting.

Here is the proposed list:

1. $13,000,000 toward emergency radios and pagers

2. $14,000,000 toward county fire trucks

3. $5,000,000 toward city fire trucks

4. $1,500,000 toward an EMS station on Stadium Road. This would be a "new 4,000 sq. ft. satellite facility to include a two-bay truck port," according to public documents.

5. $1,000,000 toward four new EMS ambulances

6. $2,000,000 toward industrial infrastructure. It's to "construct a 'Pad Ready' industrial site approximately 200,000 sq. ft. with options to expand for industrial recruitment," according to public documents.

7. $1,750,000 toward intersection safety improvements

8. $2,500,000 toward Bobby Richardson Park Improvements. It's to "transform the park into a state-of-the-art Baseball Complex to include a practice facility, increased parking capacity, and two new entrances for better accessibility," according to public documents.

9. $2,800,000 toward 15 new Patriot Park pickleball courts and added parking

10. $2,750,000 toward downtown building improvements and acquisitions, including Liberty Center upgrades

11. $21,000,000 toward county paving and resurfacing

12. $3,000,000 toward rebuilding the Stadium Road Fire Station

13. $1,000,000 toward a fire department training facility

14. $6,000,000 toward federal state road construction on U.S. 378. It's to reconnect "the communities and services north and south of the US-378 Bypass at Wesmark and Miller Roads to improve safety for drivers and pedestrians and enhance mobility for all travelers," according to public documents.

15. $10,000,000 toward a state road resurfacing match. "This project will be used to draw down additional funds from the State Department of Transportation to prioritize and expedite critical state road projects in Sumter County," according to public documents.

16. $3,250,000 toward improving the public services buildings

17. $1,500,000 toward industrial property acquisition

18. $2,600,000 toward Dillon Park improvements

19. $4,000,000 toward community park playground improvements. It would "[e]nhance public parks with infrastructure that adds safety and security, as well as modern playground equipment accessible for all children to include Swan Lake, Birnie Center, Crosswell, Catchall-Shaw, Shiloh, Rafting Creek, and others," according to public documents.

20. $1,000,000 toward a Central Carolina Technical College facility upgrade to the health center building

21. $1,500,000 toward Mayesville Main Street revitalization

22. $1,200,000 toward Pinewood Road paving

23. $9,500,000 toward a Dugan Street and downtown parking facility

24. $1,250,000 toward a Delaine Community Center. It would construct "a new community center for seniors and youth with approximately 4,000 sq. ft. to replace the current center located near the old Delaine School," according to public documents.

25. $3,000,000 toward the South Sumter Gym

26. $1,500,000 toward Harvin Street redesign and streetscape

27. $300,000 toward Pinewood sidewalks

28. $3,500,000 toward community sidewalks and activity paths

29. $1,000,000 toward airport facility upgrade

30. $2,500,000 toward community-wide acquisition of distressed structures

City of Sumter receives more block grant funding than expected

The City of Sumter has received an additional $18,000 in community development block grant money than officials had budgeted for earlier this year.

When city officials started planning for this round of CDBG funding earlier this year, officials used the amount the city was allotted from HUD last year, which was about $350,000, because the amount the city would receive for 2024-25 funding was not yet known.

CDBGs consist of federal funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that comes in the form of grants that are to be used to improve neighborhoods and make them more livable for residents in low- to moderate-income areas.

Youth employment opportunities for low- to moderate-income areas and demolition of dilapidated structures are among some of the most common activities these grants are used for, according to earlier reporting by The Sumter Item.

The federal government defines what the grants can be used for, not the municipalities that receive them.

The City of Sumter has an Entitlement Community status because it is a metropolitan statistical area, or an area with a relatively dense population. This is what qualifies the city to receive these block grants from HUD.

Public documents detail that the City of Sumter, for the 2024-25 fiscal year, received $368,392 in CDBG funding.

City council shared the preliminary budget for 2024-25 CDBG spending with the public during the Feb. 20 city council meeting (before they knew they would end up receiving roughly $18,000 more than during the 2023-24 fiscal year), and according to that draft, about $70,000 might be allotted to administering the program, $10,000 might go toward eliminating slum and blight, about $25,000 might be allotted to Sumter United Ministries to provide minor home repairs for low- to moderate-income residents, about $193,000 might be allotted to housing repair for low- to moderate-income residents, $2,500 might be allotted to YMCA youth services, $46,500 might be allotted to youth employment, and $3,000 might be allotted to the HYPE program, which provides after-school care to some students.

Again, this budget draft was based on the amount the city was allotted for the 2023-24 budget because city officials did not yet know how much they would be allotted for the 2024-25 budget, so they predicted it would be about the same as they were given for the 2023-24 budget, which was about $350,000.

Now that city officials know they have $368,392 allotted in CDBG funding, the budget is undergoing changes.

Here are the proposed changes:

- The administration part of the budget has increased from $70,017 to $73,678.

- The housing repair section has been increased from $173,168 to $185,314.

- The youth employment section has increased from $46,500 to $49,000.