Will Dorchester County face a debt crisis?

Uh oh... here we go again.

It looks like there may be another showdown on Capitol Hill over raising the debt ceiling once again, before this year is out. As if last year's fiasco wasn't enough to entertain, and indebt us for generations, a Wall Street Journal blog recently pointed out that in the White House's 2013 budget proposal, government debt subject to the statutory borrowing limit on Sept. 30, 2012, will be $16.3339 trillion — and the debt ceiling is $16.394 trillion.

So by late October, maybe early November, we can expect House Speaker John Boehner to start accusing President Obama of being Jell-O again, and Republicans to hurl more insults such as "Hobbit" at other Republicans.

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-07-14/news/29792318_1_debt-ceiling-legal-borrowing-limit-jell-o

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/how-the-tea-party-hobbits-won-the-debt-fight/2011/07/31/gIQALMrCmI_story.html

What a relief that our government back here at home doesn’t have such problems … or does it?

Well the Dorchester County fiscal year 2011-2012 budget, as presented by County Council, was a no tax increase, balanced budget. So clearly we are in much better fiscal shape than where our Federal budget stands. But what about our debt?

According to the Local Government Debt Report by the South Carolina State Treasurer’s Office, Dorchester County ranks in at fourth of 46 counties for Total Debt Outstanding, as of fiscal year 2010. The debt per capita also ranks in at fourth for the entire state, totaling $1,303 per resident. That’s over 150% more than Charleston County residents are on the hook for at $825 per capita, and a whopping 550% more than Berkeley County residents are indebted, who per capita owe a mere $233.

http://www.sccounties-scac.org/profiles/DebtOutstanding.htm

A closer look at the numbers, though, reveals Dorchester may be in even worse position than what would first appear. The top three slots for total debt per capita are awarded to Horry County at $1,905, McCormick at $1,445, and Barnwell County at $1,432. But if you look at the overall debt load – McCormick with a total debt of $11,811,734 and Barnwell at $940,000 (the lowest in the state) – Dorchester County’s total debt of $151,090,913 seems extreme. Horry County, home to Myrtle Beach (the land of 1000 mini-golf resorts), is on the hook for $449,924,502. Everything is bigger in Myrtle Beach.

Even though Charleston County’s overall total debt is higher than Dorchester at $291,212,917 — as is Beaufort’s at $263,832-042 — their much larger populations account for the lower per capita debt. Beaufort’s is one of the lowest in the state, just $79 per capita.

What is also concerning is the revenues per capita, and per capita expenditures, as this illustrates how much revenue each resident is generating to pay off this debt, and what the county spends in services per resident.

According to the South Carolina Association of Counties, who quoted fiscal year 2009 figures in their tables, Revenues Per Capita for Dorchester County were $669 – but Per Capita Expenditures were $687, a loss of $18 of expenditures over revenue for every resident in the county. The county ranked 24th in revenues per capita, and 23rd in expenditures.

Comparatively to the other large debt holders, Horry County had revenues of $1,788 over expenditures of $1,480 in fiscal year 2009 — a net gain in revenue of $308 per resident. Charleston County also seemingly operated at a loss in fiscal year 2010, with per capita revenues of $1,072 and expenditures of $1,218. Beaufort was in similar condition, with revenues of $1,049 and expenditures of $1,278 per capita.

http://www.sccounties.org/counties/county-statistics.aspx

It’s going to get worse.

Dorchester County voters have already approved spending another $5 million for parks, which is being generated by debt from bonds, and council has been busy moving forward with purchases at Pine Trace and an 80-acre tract across from the newly constructed Richard Rosebrock park near Bacons Bridge Road.  In addition, the county is looking to build a new jail complex to the tune of $18 million.

Also on tap for the next few years is the building of a new main library, EMS centers, and perhaps even relocating chambers for County Council – with debt spending projected to be an estimated $26 million or more before 2015.

Overall debt could rise to a level approaching $185,000,000 or more, and each resident could be on the hook for upwards of $1,600 per man, woman and child.

As the county continues to grow, we grow deeper and deeper in debt to provide more services for residents and expand our local government’s footprint even larger, and believe the expected future growth will continue to pay for the projects we cannot afford today.