Aiken County voters said yes on Nov. 3 to a referendum that gives the county more ways to pay for upgrades and a bigger Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Three sitting County Council members won new terms. A newcomer joins them. Ron Felder, Mike Kellems, and Phil Napier kept their seats, while Chris Alverson won his first. All four are Republicans, and none faced a challenger.
County Council Chairman Gary Bunker wrote, per the Aiken Standard, that the vote was needed because the 1976 referendum limited funding to “a short list of enumerated options in vogue 50 years ago.” Bunker said that was “shortsighted, although no one guessed it at the time.” Personal Property Tax Exemption Sales Taxes, the Capital Project Sales Tax, and Installment Purchase Revenue Bonds weren’t around then…