The Nerve

By RICK BRUNDRETT Allowing Union County Transportation Committee members to make up to $750 a year – paid out of state gas-tax money – is too costly for taxpayers, says a co-sponsor of a bill that would pay those members for attending regular meetings. “It is high,” said Rep. Bill Clyburn, D-Aiken, when contacted Monday […]

By RICK BRUNDRETT No paving projects were completed between the end of November and December with gas-tax-hike funds in 37 of South Carolina’s 46 counties, though the state had nearly a half-billion dollars in available cash for those projects, records show. In the first two-and-a-half years of the gas-tax-hike law, a total of $1.04 billion […]

By RICK BRUNDRETT When in session, S.C. lawmakers routinely introduce legislation dedicating an existing road section, bridge or intersection to a living or deceased person – including ex-legislators. Their road- and bridge-naming proposals are made through concurrent resolutions, which unlike general bills, can’t be reviewed by the governor. Since 2017, legislators have approved 57 such […]

By RICK BRUNDRETT In the first two years of the gas-tax-hike law, the state collected enough money to pay for three-quarters of the identified $1 billion in road and bridge projects, yet the S.C. Department of Transportation completed or “substantially” completed just 8% of the total projected tab, newly released DOT records show. As of […]

By RICK BRUNDRETT The S.C. Department of Transportation continues to sit on most of the hundreds of millions of dollars collected since the gas-tax-hike law went into effect nearly 15 months ago. Less than $9 million, or 2.7 percent, of the $324.2 million collected between July 1, 2017, and July 31 of this year was […]

By RICK BRUNDRETT Nearly nine months after the state law took effect hiking the gasoline tax and other taxes and fees – purportedly to fix South Carolina’s crumbling roads – the authorized money has yet to be spent, though more than $131 million has been collected. At least that’s what online records from Comptroller General […]