“SPENDING IS GETTING OUT OF HAND AGAIN”
Less than a year-and-a-half after it ran out of cash and was forced to rely on a federal bailout to stay afloat, the S.C. Department of Transportation (SCDOT) is spending thousands of tax dollars on renovations to its executive board room.
Among the expenses? A custom made table rumored to have [...]
SCDOT Spares No Expense On New Board Room
Real SC Transportation Reform?
OR ARE LAWMAKERS PLAYING MUSICAL CHAIRS?
For the second time in six years, South Carolina lawmakers are offering up proposals to reform the way highway projects are funded. These efforts weren’t successful last time … and we have no expectation they will be successful this time.
Why not? Because this state is hopelessly corrupt, people – and [...]
“Nix 526″ Group Plans Protest
ANOTHER HIGHWAY BOONDOGGLE DRAWS IRE OF COMMUNITIES, TAXPAYERS
It turns out Interstate 73 isn’t the only costly, unnecessary transportation project that’s getting the green light from state government – and grief from taxpayers.
The last chuck of funding for a planned $556 million expansion of Interstate 526 in Charleston, S.C. was approved last week by the state’s [...]
Is Everything Coming Up Roses At SCDOT?
NO … AND CRITICAL NEEDS ARE STILL BEING NEGLECTED
By Sarah Nuckles || Robert J. St. Onge, the Secretary of the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT), has been issuing press releases about the agency’s cash position since it was first revealed that SCDOT had no cash around April 2011.
We are now up to press release No. 44.
Millions of [...]
SCDOT “Reform” Must Actually Reform SCDOT
For the second time in five years, South Carolina’s “Republican-controlled” state government is proposing to “reform” the S.C. Department of Transportation (SCDOT).
But is that really what’s going to happen?
Not if things stay as they are …
While we credit GOP lawmakers – and S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley – for supporting needed structural changes at this agency, [...]
The Southern Connector’s Ongoing Price Tag
The cash-strapped S.C. Department of Transportation (SCDOT) shells out $30 million a year to maintain the Southern Connector, a money-losing toll road in Upstate, S.C. that was built over a decade ago with government loans.
This week, the group that operates this asphalt boondoggle raised fees on motorists in an effort to try and pay back [...]
Southern Connector Update
Last week, FITS broke the news that the Southern Connector – a monument to poor government planning – was raising toll rates in an effort to meet its bond obligations.
“Beginning on January 2, 2012, the toll for current customers will rise from $1 to $1.35. Meanwhile the toll for non-customers will climb from $1.25 to [...]
Nikki Haley Gets It Right On SCDOT Reform
Nikki Haley has been one disaster after another as governor of South Carolina – including her decision to request (and receive) a $52 million bailout for the cash-strapped S.C. Department of Transportation (SCDOT) - but this week she finally stumbled into recommending the proper long-term reform for this troubled agency.
Haley has proposed doing away with [...]
Hurricane Irene Churns Toward Charleston
For nearly a quarter of a century, South Carolina has been spared a direct hit from a major hurricane.
Will this be the year that our state’s luck runs out?
Let’s hope not … but if so, South Carolinians better pray that S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley runs the state’s Emergency Management Division (EMD) better than she runs [...]
Nikki Haley Gets Her Federal Bailout
In a recent Washington Post column with Texas Gov. Rick Perry, S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley lectured politicians in our nation’s capitol on the “principles of a limited federal government and responsible fiscal leadership,” telling them that the time had come to “draw a line and finally hold Washington accountable.”
“It is worth remembering that all government [...]
Richard Eckstrom Can’t Count
In an attempt to carry S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley’s water at a recent state budget meeting … S.C. Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom sought to blame the S.C. Department of Transportation (SCDOT)’s worsening cash crunch on the state’s declining fuel tax collections.
Gas tax revenues “are off by about 4 percent,” Eckstrom said at the meeting – [...]
