Palmetto Pride is wasting money that could reduce litter

When I ran for Lexington County Council, one of my campaign planks was reducing litter, so I am an advocate for Keep the Midlands Beautiful’s work to supply the boots on the ground to help Lexington County rid itself of unsightly blight.

Lexington County contributes $27,000 a year to Keep the Midlands Beautiful, which grows that contribution to $604,800 through private donations, volunteer hours, fundraising efforts and grants from Palmetto Pride. Keep the Midlands Beautiful is a local affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, and Palmetto Pride is the state-level affiliate.

Palmetto Pride receives most of its funding from state fines and fees for littering. Its mission is to “Eradicate litter and promote beautification in South Carolina.” However, it is falling short of that goal.

Palmetto Pride should be a pass-through that supports the local Keep America Beautiful affilliates. Instead, it is keeping too much of the money for itself, with a current balance in its savings account of more than $6 million.

If Keep the Midlands Beautiful can turn Lexington County’s contribution of $27,000 into $604,800, how much more could it do with just a portion of the $6 million that Palmetto Pride has on hand? Palmetto Pride’s tax filing says it spent $3 million in 2015 on advertising, operations and grants, but less than 18 percent of that went to grants to local affiliates; more than 33 percent was spent on advertising. I am not sure how much litter a billboard or radio commercial is picking up, but I know the volunteer numbers that Palmetto Pride puts out each year are collected from state-wide affiliates, not from its own efforts.

We in Lexington County are known for our fiscal conservatism, and Palmetto Pride’s efforts seem to me like a waste of money.

Why is Palmetto Pride holding $6 million in a savings account that could be used to eradicate litter and promote beautification in Lexington County? The governor and the Legislature should look into this.

This story was originally published December 21, 2017 at 10:58 AM with the headline "Palmetto Pride is wasting money that could reduce litter."