Spartanburg County Council approves $900k for new hires from penny sales tax for roads

Spartanburg County Council has agreed to beef up the public works department after voters in November approved a penny sales tax to raise $478 million to pay for 577 road, bridge and intersection improvement projects.

At their December meeting, councilmembers approved funding for nine new road-related positions and nine new vehicles at a cost of $914,564.

"The requests are a direct response to the voters of Spartanburg County's overwhelming approval of the capital sales tax referendum for the completion of 577 road-related projects," Deputy County Administrator Earl Alexander said during the meeting.

County Administrator Cole Alverson said funding will first come from savings in the current budget, but most will come later when penny sales tax revenues are generated.

"Positions will be capitalized within the individual capital projects on which they work," Alverson said.

What to know: Spartanburg County Council finalizes penny sales tax for roads.

Voters approved the referendum on Nov. 7 by a margin of 55% to 45%. The tax takes effect May 1, 2024, following the end of the current six-year tax voters approved in 2017 to pay for a new county courthouse and joint city-county government complex.

The tax will last six years and raise an estimated $478 million to pay for 577 road, bridge and intersection improvement projects.

Alexander said as the county's focus on road improvements has increased in the past few years, the county has been increasing its reliance on outsourcing contract work to vendors. Outsourcing some of the work to vendors will continue as the nine new positions refilled, he said.

The new positions and expected hiring dates are:

➤ County transportation engineer, February 2024. The position will establish a new division in the Department of Public Works and will report directly to the Director of Public Works.

➤ Senior right-of-way agent, February 2024. The position will determine property values and acquisition of property for roadway improvements.

➤ Right-of-way agent, February 2024. The position will assist in right-of-way acquisitions.

➤ Two senior engineering coordinators, February and March 2024. The positions will be responsible for managing the county's asphalt and infrastructure improvement projects.

➤ Four engineering coordinators, February and March 2024. The positions will add staff to manage the county's capital infrastructure improvement projects.

Of the $914,564 approved by council, $364,564 is budgeted for personnel and operating costs, while $560,000 is budgeted for nine new vehicles, Alexander said.

"Approval of the nine additional positions, nine vehicles that will be added to the fleet, and operational expenses for associated positions will allow us to build our internal capacity while bringing many of our current contracted services in-house, which will result in an overall savings to the taxpayers," Alexander said.

Bob Montgomery covers Spartanburg County politics and growth & development. Reach him via email at bob.montgomery@shj.com.

This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: Spartanburg County approves $900k for new hires for penny tax roads