June 2016 Council Highlights

  • We are happy to announce that the 2016-17 budget passed last night, by unanimously vote. This is the 9th consecutive year that City Council has passed a balanced budget with no property tax increases.

 

  • Council approved a request to have 4.65 acres, located at 2120 Thomas Sumter Highway, rezoned from General Commercial and Agricultural Conservation to General Commercial. The proposed use of the property is for Palmetto Storage, a mini-warehouse.

 

  • Council approved a resolution to allow SC DOT to begin improvements along Broad Street, from Wesmark Boulevard to Bultman Drive. This section of Broad Street has been on the top of the list in Sumter as having the most congestion and the most accidents, so beginning with this area the state will perform intersection improvements as well as resurfacing this year. There is no timeline set currently, but once we know, we will update the public once more through media and online.

 

OTHER NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS:

 

  • The City received an Award for Excellence in Financial Reporting. This certificate of achievement is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting that a City can strive to obtain. We’re very proud of our finance department staff for working hard throughout the year to make sure that the City Council, City Manager and city staff have solid financial information, which is essential for good planning, execution of those plans and the success we are seeing in Sumter.

 

  • The Mayor is heading to Indianapolis this weekend for the US Conference of Mayors Annual Meeting. We’re excited to announce that the City has won another award for our leadership in support of the Sumter County Capital Projects Sales Tax Referendum. More details will be released on this award after the meeting this weekend.

 

  • In observance of Homeownership Month, there will be a Housing and Job Fair, this Saturday, June 25 from 10 AM to 2 PM at the South Sumter Resource Center. The event is free and open to everyone. Stop by to see if you qualify for a home. Refreshments, door prizes and fun for kids.

 

  • Municipal Association of South Carolina recently released an article on cities who are stepping up to move industries in to their community. Sumter was highlighted as one of those cities. Capitalizing on the addition of Continental Tire, Sumter’s historic downtown has experienced $3.8 million in private, small business investments, creating more than 130 new jobs. Sumter’s rapidly growing per capita income was also highlighted, and that we have grown that per capita by over $8,000 in the past six years, and are close to surpassing the state’s average. The City was also used as an example of how cities are successfully utilizing educational institutions to develop a local, highly-skilled workforce.