Jasper can't yet spend A-tax money on new jail
But Rep. Clementa Pinckney hopes for compromise with the
State Hospitality Association next year

By Glenn Niemiec, Carolina Morning News
Copyright 1998 Savannah Morning News
Article date: May 25, 1998
 

Legislation that would allow Jasper County officials to use accommodations tax dollars to help fund a new jail is dead ... for now.

State Rep. Clementa Pinckney, D-Ridgeland, introduced the bill in February to try and help Jasper County fund its new jail proposal.

Under state law, Jasper County must collect more than $900,000 a year in accommodations tax before the money can be used for anything other than tourism-related projects. Last year Jasper got less than $100,000 from the tax.

Pinckney's bill would have lifted the $900,000 limit and allowed smaller counties to use
the money wherever needed.

"Only the larger counties like Horry and Beaufort make that kind of money, but people
traveling to Beaufort County must travel through Jasper County," Pinckney said. "That's why Jasper needs improved EMS services and a new jail. It would benefit everyone."

But some people in Columbia didn't see it that way.

Pinckney said the bill is opposed by the State Hospitality Association, which doesn't like the idea of using the tax for things not related to tourism and which feared the bill might hurt the state's billion-dollar tourism industry. The association's opposition has kept the measure bottled up in committee.

"They see what we are trying to do with this, but they want to make sure that it doesn't have any negative impact," Pinckney said.

"I feel confident that we will be able to sit down and work out a compromise which will
allow me to introduce an updated version next session."

County officials said they need all the help they can get to build a new jail in the Cypress Ridge Industrial Park. The proposal carries a price tag of more than $5 million.

The current Jasper jail, built in 1972 as a temporary holding facility for 23 inmates, has
long been criticized as one of the state's worst. Outdated facilities and severe
overcrowding are forcing county officials to build a new jail, which they say might not be needed if it weren't for the 60,000 cars passing through the county every day on Interstate 95.

Jasper County Administrator Henry Moss said interstate travelers should help foot the bill for the jail because about 30 percent of law enforcement, EMS, and fire calls come as a result of I-95's 36-mile stretch in the county.

Pinckney said he is having better luck with legislation that would establish a no wake zone for watercraft along a portion of Little Chechessee Creek in Beaufort County.

"It already passed the House, and I am looking for it to pass the Senate real soon,"
Pinckney said. The legislative session ends June 4.

Pinckney said the no wake bill was introduced in April after he met with local residents
who were concerned about the number of watercraft in the area.

If approved, the no wake zone would be established on the creek in the area that parallels Sugar Mill Drive on Callawassie Island.
 

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