Florence needs to track spending of accommodations tax allocations

According to Florence City Councilman Ed Robinson, the city’s Juneteenth celebration will be held in August. The event has been funded by $7,400 of the city’s state accommodations tax money.

That’s why Larry Smith, editor of The Community Times newspaper in Florence, has called Robinson into question regarding the Florence event’s funds. He told the Morning News “the clear question” is whether Robinson used the money in the way it was appropriated.

Robinson said his role is only to promote Juneteenth and he is not on the event committee.

Juneteenth and nearly 20 other nonprofits received funding from the 2-percent state accommodations tax, collected on lodging. The funds go to organizations and events that promote tourism.

Whether it’s Juneteenth — a celebration that originated on June 19, 1865, when word finally reached slaves in Texas that the Civil War had ended and that they were free — or the city’s Pecan Festival or the May Fly air show, the city should have a better system in place to govern how groups can spend accommodations tax allocations.

Florence City Manager David Williams said the city has no ongoing tracking system of how state accommodations tax allocations are spent during the year by recipient organizations. The city doesn’t have staff members with sufficient time to keep track of that information.
When organizations return to seek funding the next year, however, Williams said they must supply financial statements, budgets and other funding sources.

If someone questions a group’s spending of accommodations tax allocations, the State Accommodations Tax Committee can investigate the matter as the “final arbiter” in such a dispute, Williams said.

It doesn’t happen often, he said.

Robinson said Smith seems to have a “personal vendetta” against him, possibly because Robinson made a motion without explanation in February to deny the S.C. Black Family Expo a recommended $6,000 in accommodations tax funding.

Smith organizes the expo, which was held this past weekend in Florence for the 17th year, and said his articles on Juneteenth have nothing to do with the denial of funding.

“Accountability is accountability, and the city of Florence should be accountable for resources it gives out into the community,” Smith said.
And he’s right.

The questions being raised concerning the Juneteenth funding wouldn’t be asked if the public could see exactly how accommodations tax allocations are being spent, as they are spent.

Florence officials should develop a better tracking system for these funds.

The need for one becomes clearer in tough economic times like these when everyone — including those who manage city funds — is looking for ways to make sure spending is most efficient.