Richland leaders will ‘vigorously defend’ pair of penny tax lawsuits

Richland County leaders on Wednesday said they will “vigorously defend” a pair of penny tax-related lawsuits filed by two people and a government watchdog group.

Richland County resident Rusty DePass and the S.C. Public Interest Foundation have filed a suit seeking to halt any further spending of penny money until the county complies fully with the law, The State newspaper reported last week. Another suit filed last month by the foundation and activist Ned Sloan alleges the county violated the state open records law over a request for penny tax-related records.

“This same out-of-town group has sued the state and local governments across South Carolina over similar issues,” County Council Chairman Torrey Rush said in a statement, the first from the county in response to the suits. “They basically dislike local governments and want to substitute their own judgment for those decisions made by people who were elected by the citizens of this County to make these critical decisions.

“We fully expect to prevail.”

This story was originally published May 11, 2016 at 6:02 PM.