We have all heard the expression “putting lipstick on a pig.” The Captain Sam Spit litigation saga that will cost SC taxpayers $32 million is what that expression was created for.
The $32 million taxpayer-funded settlement does not include 17 years of legal fees expended by the Department of Environmental Services and the AG’s office with no oversight and does not include an additional $4 million paid by taxpayers in the town of Kiawah. The Attorney General and the legislators rush to present it as “good for everyone”. Presumably that includes us taxpayers. I am not sure if we would agree.
Let’s start at the beginning. The Kiawah Island developers originally acquired roughly 10,000 acres in Kiawah Island in 1988 for approximately $105 million. The “spit” was a 170-acre parcel acquired as part of this overall acquisition in 1988…