Cayce OK’d thousands for tourism. Then shot down the group’s proposed budget
After Cayce city council agreed to allocate funds to the Greater Cayce West Columbia Chamber of Commerce, more than $44,000 is in limbo now that the council has shot down the chamber’s plans for the funding.
The city finds itself in a tricky legal pickle that the town’s attorney told its council at the June 18 meeting wasn’t exactly addressed in the state law. Cayce allocated all of its available accommodations tax money to the Greater Cayce West Columbia Chamber of Commerce, but then disapproved the Chamber’s proposed budget.
“The law is a little bit unclear if it’s been allocated and then there’s not a vote to follow when the budget is presented,” Ashley Hunter, the city’s spokesperson, told The State. “[The city attorney] is looking into it and we hope to find out more.”
At Cayce’s last council meeting on June 3, the council approved sending accommodations tax money, funds that come from a 3% tax on hotels and other overnight stays within the city, to just the one organization, as opposed to the three that had applied and were recommended by the city’s accommodations tax committee.
Tim James, the city’s mayor pro-tem, recused himself from that vote because of his role as the chamber’s president. Councilman Byron Thomas, who serves on a volunteer committee with the chamber that would deal directly with spending the allocated funds, did not recuse himself from that vote. With James recused, council approved all $44,175 of its regional tourism award dollars to go to the Greater Cayce West Columbia Chamber. Mayor Elise Partin was the only “no” vote.
After a Post and Courier article questioned whether Thomas should’ve recused himself from the vote, he made a statement during the June 18 meeting and then recused himself from approving the chamber’s budget. Thomas noted that both the town’s attorney and outside legal counsel had informed him he was not required to recuse himself in either instance.
The State reached out to the South Carolina Ethics Commission, which said it could “neither confirm nor deny the existence of a complaint or investigation” into Thomas.
“I do not want this concern to distract us from the important work we’re trying to do for the betterment of this beautiful city. I believe our community expects leadership that focuses on solutions, not distractions. To avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest, I have chosen to recuse myself from this vote,” Thomas said at the Wednesday night meeting.
After Thomas recused himself, that left the decision up to two council members — Hunter Sox and Carter — and Partin. Sox and Carter have been vocal about their support for sending the funds solely to the Chamber of Commerce and nixing the two other organizations, Capital City/Lake Murray Country and Experience Columbia, in the name of supporting an organization based in the Cayce area.
Partin had been a vocal supporter of splitting the money among the three organizations, arguing that tourism efforts done by Capital City/Lake Murray Country and Experience Columbia also bring visitors to the Cayce area. At the Wednesday night meeting, she took issue with how the chamber had chosen to organize its proposed budget, as a bulleted list attached to a letter, and with the fact that no one from the chamber was present to answer council’s questions.
The three couldn’t come to a decision they agreed on and the motion required at least three members to vote in support of it. In a 2-1 vote, with Partin being the only to vote “no,” the motion to approve the organization’s planned budget failed.
“So the motion failed, what does that mean?” Carter asked city attorney Will Dillard.
“Well, candidly the state statute does not address this particular situation where you’ve got an approval of the allocation and a selection of the entity to receive the money, but you don’t have a vote to approve the budget they submitted,” Dillard told the three. “The money has been allocated and I think the city is required to disperse it to the entity that’s been selected based on the vote that was taken at the last meeting.”
The disagreement, and subsequent failure to approve the chamber’s funding plan, is another in a line of recent spats between city council members and the mayor in recent months, as Partin and other elected leaders have sparred over everything from seats on various government boards to disagreements over whether to take something into executive session.
After the last council meeting, Partin was at odds with council and some city staff members over where the funding came from for staff retention bonuses during last year’s budget process. Partin claimed the funding had come from a grant from the Boyd Foundation. Staff told The State it had come from excess revenues.
The tension also comes as the city has been embroiled in controversy and high turnover in the last year. Since July, the city has seen two city managers announce plans to leave — the Wednesday night meeting was the last for City Manager Jim Crosland, who will take over as the town administrator for Irmo. The city has also seen two police chiefs resign, one of whom was accused by staff of creating a hostile work environment.
This story was originally published June 19, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
