CONWAY, SC (WBTW) – Some Horry County leaders have questioned what the county calls “Recreation Funds” for months, and asked why county leaders can choose to give public dollars to any community organization they want.
In Monday’s Horry County Administration Committee Meeting, some county leaders said they want to change the name of the funds to give clarity about where they should be used.
The name would change from “Recreation Fund” to “Community Benefit Fund” because the money is used for things that benefit the community.
This comes after questioned decisions made by some council members to fund different events that didn’t deal directly with recreation.
Council member Tyler Servant, who has opposed the fund from the beginning, was the only council member to vote against the change Monday.
He says he’s not opposed to charities, he just feels the money needs to be used in other ways and that changing the name only broadens the scope for what the money can be used for.
“In my opinion, I want this fund to go away because I this money should be spent on core government functions like public safety. At the end of the day, you look at this fund, it’s almost a quarter of a million dollars a year, and over ten years, that’s 2.5 million dollars which is a lot of money,” said Servant.
Council Chair Mark Lazarus said they would send the name change to the full council for a vote now, and later talk about the future of continuing the funds and how they’re used.
