{"id":12105,"date":"2019-05-08T19:38:33","date_gmt":"2019-05-08T19:38:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.coastalconservationleague.org\/?p=12105"},"modified":"2019-06-03T14:30:00","modified_gmt":"2019-06-03T14:30:00","slug":"contract-review-continues-526","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.coastalconservationleague.org\/blog\/contract-review-continues-526\/","title":{"rendered":"Contract review continues on I-526"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, the state\u2019s Joint Bond Review Committee demonstrated fiscal concern for Charleston County taxpayers when it decided to carefully review and digest data gathered by a subcommittee studying the contract for the Interstate 526 extension. And instead of charging ahead with a vote, committee members again requested still-outstanding legal assurances from Charleston County.<\/p>\n

JBRC member Sen. Thomas Alexander (R-Oconee), who is chairman of the subcommittee studying the contract, said that group will meet one more time for a final analysis before the next JBRC meeting. Neither of those meetings has been scheduled.<\/p>\n

Alexander raised serious concerns about the proposed contract for I-526 including whether it\u2019s legal for Charleston County Council to bind future councils with a more than $305 million expense for the project, which now has an estimated $725 million price tag.<\/p>\n

He also expressed concern about whether Charleston County has the authority to divert money from its half-cent sales tax to I-526 when the extension wasn\u2019t on project lists that came before voters in 2004 or 2016.<\/p>\n

In fact, in 2016, council members initially discussed adding the I-526 extension to the suggested and advertised list of projects the half-cent sales tax might fund. But they ultimately chose to leave it off the project list (described in Ordinance #1907<\/a>), assuming the extension would guarantee that the referendum would fail.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0a Post and Courier editorial<\/a>, Councilman Herb Sass urged voters to support the increase and pledged that I-526 and the half-cent tax were two separate issues. Less than a week before the election, local leaders organized\u00a0a press event to encourage voters<\/a>\u00a0to support the half-cent hike and displayed the final project list \u2014 without I-526. Days later, the 2016 referendum passed by the slimmest of margins, garnering barely 51 percent of the vote.<\/p>\n

Alexander\u2019s concerns are similar to those of the Coastal Conservation League. We stand opposed to the contract because it would:<\/p>\n