DILLON, SC (WBTW) – The Dillon County Administrator has filed a motion asking a judge to remove the county treasurer from a lawsuit involving the county and the Dillon County Board of Education.
In July, the treasurer filed a lawsuit asking a judge to determine if the county’s budget is legal after the county decided not to give the school district any money.
The school board says the district is entitled about $319,000 each year to repay a bond the county and schools agreed on in 1996 with a bond referendum. Since then, a judge ordered the treasurer to hold the money for the schools in a separate account until the next court date mid-September.
Dillon County Council met Friday to discuss the treasurer’s claims in executive session but took no action.
Dillon County Administrator Rodney Berry filed a motion to remove the treasurer from the lawsuit – where she asked a judge if the approved budget at the time was legal and how much money the school district should receive.
Robert Tyson, the attorney for the county, says the school board benefits from the case, not the treasurer. Tyson was selected to serve as legal counsel for the county after the current county attorney was removed due to a “conflict of interest,” although no one involved has explained the conflict.
“They are the ones that believe that the money has been improperly withheld from them,” says Tyson of the school board. “So the burden should be on them to show or prove that it was done improperly. The treasurer doesn’t have a dog in the fight.”
The treasurer’s attorney Charles Curry says, “The treasurer does have the authority to pursue the case.”
“I just want to make sure the proper agency gets the correct amount of money,” says treasurer Jamie Estes. “I don’t want to give it to the wrong party. I hope we come to a resolution on who entitled to the funds.”
Tyson says the judge has removed the liability from her when he ordered her to set the money aside until the next court date in September.
“We believe for the treasurer than to be questioning the budget, that the parties that are affected should be doing that,” says Tyson.
Board of education chair Richard Schafer questions the county’s motives and disagrees.
“She is the person that is in charge of the money. Had she not filed it, we would have filed a lawsuit against her and Dillon County,” confirms Schafer. “So she did stop that process in stepping in.”
Judge Micheal Nettles scheduled the hearing for next Wednesday to review the county’s request to remove the treasurer.
That same day county council is scheduled to have its regular council meeting—where the council may have the second reading of the supplemental budget.