At one point in 2025, Laurens County had just 1 month of money reserves on hand in case of a man-made or natural disaster (think, Hurricane Helene).
Independent auditors generally recommend 3 months of cash reserves.
These can be used to pay the bills if tax-collections are disrupted.
The concern was noted in an audit for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, presented by Will Walls, of Love Bailey Associates in Laurens, the county’s independent auditor.
“A good cash reserve is 3 months,” Walls said.
County officials expect to hear again from Love Bailey Associates in about 5 months to catch the audits up to current. The 2025 audit comes to the county as unmodified, meaning it is a clean audit with no material weaknesses and no compliance issues. It was presented at the council’s regular monthly meeting on July 13.
The County also had a single audit of federal funds, since it receives more that $750,000 from the United States government, much of that from FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency/Hurricane Helene clean-up). The County’s net position increased by $3 Million to $57 Million and its debt was reduced to $52 Million, according to the presentation to council (Laurens County Council meetings are live-streamed and archived on the county’s website).
Walls said the County should keep an eye on Emergency Management Services and Fire Services capital spending, since it is running in a deficit.
The unrestricted cash on-hand, to meet operating expenses in case of an emergency, was 9 months in 2023 and 4 months in 2024. Then, the general fund paid back some departmental funds for capital items, the report indicated.
Walls said Laurens County is spending 50% of its money on Public Safety, and employee costs have gone up, but not significantly. His report indicated that the general fund is operating well, up $926,000, with $36 Million in revenue for FY 2025. Most of that was an increase in property tax revenue, and a result of dropping the finding of 2024 that too much was rebated from the local option sales tax.
Walls said the County has resolved the finding from 2024 of the auditor related to LOST money, and the County continues to grow with residential money and fees-in- lieu-of-taxes from industries. Also, he said, “You have budgeted for 2027 capital improvements.”
This is the 4th consecutive year of clean opinions for the Laurens County books, he said.
Council members were concerned about what they could do about capital funding deficits for EMS and Fire.
“The only way EMS makes money is if you charge the customer, or the county gives it more money,” Chairman Jeff Carroll said. “It is a statutory obligation, but it does cost money. We are growing. If we expect 10-, 9-, 8-minute response times, that is going to be costly. It is difficult with a county so spread out. (It can be addressed with) millage adjustments, and that’s a tax increase, and nobody likes that. You’re either going to pay it in EMS fees or in property taxes.
“We’re doing the things that need to be done,” Carroll said.
“We’re working toward getting a handle on deficit spending,” County Administrator Jerre Threatt said.
In other action from the council’s regular monthly (second Monday) meeting, Council agreed to make June 26 each year Timberwolves gold medal day, named for the Pathwise* 5v5 unified basketball team that earned a national gold medal. Also, special athlete Ansley Hayes was honored for her Special Olympics USA Games Minnesota 2026 Silver Medal.
Council also commemorated the 36th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act in Laurens county, through Able South Carolina.
Council heard a presentation of concern from veterinary technicians about a proposed ordinance putting teeth into the county’s animal control ordinance, related to spay-neuter of dogs and cats. It passed on the 2nd of 3 readings, with a committee assigned to assess more concerns prior to final reading.
To give the Sheriff’s Office more tools to work with related to animal control, the ordinance has provisions “adding responsible pet ownership and targeted spay/neuter provisions.”
“Why don’t we pick up cats?” asked Council Member Arthur Lee Philson Jr.
“There is no room in the house,” Sheriff Don Reynolds said. “There is too much recklessness and irresponsibility in this county. We are trying to control the out of hand stuff going on in the county,” related to pet ownership and dog breeding.
Council gave 3rd and final reading to a storage of hazardous and non-hazardous waste ordinance.
“We are pleased that we’ve made it this far with it,” Council Member Justin Lane said. “It is pro-active; in fact, we have been just re-active when we’ve been faced with something.”
“It is a powerful ordinance that will protect the County against any unwanted waste facility coming into the county,” said Cross Hill resident and nominee for the State House Rick Shealy.
Council authorized a budgeted expenditure of $6,000 to match a grant related to emergency management, and authorized the Airport to hire Ardurra as its consultation in compliance with FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) requirements.
Council received 3 presentations related to spending the money that the county will receive from the SC Opioid Recovery Fund, part of the SC opioid litigation settlement. One came from Play Safe, a group the county has hired to manage its funds and potential projects - they reported on training, mailers, and billboards, and a drug-testing machine acquired for the Coroner’s Office. Another was from the SC Empowerment Center, based in Gray Court; and a third was from Clemson/SEEDS, dealing with mothers and their children affected by opioid abuse.
The opioid settlement is for more than $7 Billion, nationally. At the local level, the Laurens County Council, at its July 13 meeting, was starting to deal with an “update and appropriation of SCORF Funding for the Fiscal Year 2026-27.”
The South Carolina Attorney General’s Office has said this about it in an announcement:
“Attorney General (Alan) Wilson announced … that a $7.4 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family, has become legally effective. South Carolina will receive almost $73 million, which will go into the South Carolina Opioid Relief Fund, or SCORF. …
“From the Purdue settlement and others, South Carolina has now secured more than $256 million in funds for opioid abatement programs throughout the state, and Attorney General Wilson expects the state to receive more than $500 million in additional funds over the next 15 years. In total, Attorney General Wilson’s opioid recovery for the state of South Carolina will exceed more than three-quarters of a billion dollars.”
(*Pathwise = the former Laurens County Disabilities & Special Needs Board.)
