Midlands mayor says her town only has $600 left in coffers after this month
The town of Swansea will have less than $600 left in its accounts by the end of the month, the town’s mayor warned in an email last week.
Mayor Viola McDaniel wrote to town council members on Nov. 19 that the town only had $20,576.96 available to cover expenses, and that at least $20,000 would be needed to meet the town’s payroll this week.
“The only revenue that I know we will be getting in this month is County Taxes for approximately $4,400,” McDaniel wrote in the email, which was provided to The State by two sources. “The town and police department will not be able to meet it’s financial obligation in the month December. I informed you, the council, of this in Sept and recently and you have refused to meet or take on any actions that was recommended.”
McDaniel declined to discuss the email when contacted by The State, but other town council members said it wasn’t unusual for the town of some 700 people to face lean income at the end of the year, before 2024 tax payments come in early in the new year.
At Monday’s Swansea Town Council meeting, McDaniel was adamant that none of the town’s money had been misappropriated, but stood by her comments in the email.
“The town doesn’t have any money,” the mayor said. ”We probably won’t make payroll this week.”
Councilwoman Doris Simmons said she believes the town could move over money from its water department if it moved to collect more than $200,000 in overdue water payments owed to the town.
“We’re hoping to hear back from our attorney, Joseph Dickey, if that’s something that could be done,” Simmons said. “We want to make sure that’s something we could legally do.”
Swansea’s water department has needs of its own, however. McDaniel notes in her email that the water department has an outstanding bill of $27,047.02 from Lexington County’s Joint Municipal Water and Sewer Commission, partly because excess runoff from Hurricane Helene had flooded the town’s pipes.
“These last 3 bills from JMW has hit the water department hard,” the mayor wrote. “Water can still pay its bills and obligations because there is always a revolving amount of revenue coming in each month.”
At Monday’s meeting, McDaniel said the town was “terminating water today” of residents behind on their bills, but that Swansea had drawn down the water department’s funding in the past to pay for other needs, leaving town water cash-strapped instead.
“The auditor said we can’t use it for that,” she said. “It can only be used for enterprise projects, not for other programs, the police department or other things.”
McDaniel said in her email the town is currently down $249,000 from the previous fiscal year. She asks the town council to make plans for how the town can pay expenses come December and January.
“Hopefully we will see some tax revenue in December,” she said.
Councilwoman Linda Butler expressed confidence that McDaniel would be able to guide the town to cover the upcoming expenses.
“She’s done a good job with the finances,” Butler said. “I know personally that she knows how deal with money. If she loses a penny, she’ll find it. She’s been that way her whole life. If we need to we can hold off on some things, don’t hire or do whatever until things start looking a little better.”
Councilman Mike Luongo said he wished the mayor had been more communicative about the town’s finances, as the council was only told that cash was running low in September, after the town’s fiscal year began July 1. He fears the town’s employees could end up having their hours cut back as a cost-saving measure.
“They’re the ones I’m concerned about more than anything,” Luongo said. “This is all going to affect our employees... People won’t come work for us, so we need to hang on to what we have right now.”
Simmons said that the mayor had taken responsibility herself for overseeing Swansea’s water department, something McDaniel seemed unwilling to continue to do in her email after this year.
“Remember that I will not be paying bill and keeping up with the accounts balance as of December 31, 2024,” McDaniel writes. “Please have something in mind and do not wait until the last minute to appoint someone to do this. I am not obligated to do this. I only did this to help the town.”
But on Monday, McDaniel said she wasn’t planning on stepping back from her responsibilities.
“I’m not giving up. I’ll stick around and help,” she said. “I’ve never bounced a check, [but] it might come late.”
The town of Swansea’s finances have been plagued with controversy before. Former Mayor Jerald Sanders was indicted in 2021 for allegedly embezzling $4,500 in town funds. That case is still pending. The next year, Luongo and Simmons filed a lawsuit against McDaniel and the town alleging an audit found some $3.3 million in assets unaccounted for. McDaniel has disputed that interpretation of the audit results.
This story was originally published November 25, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
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