Editor, We are writing in response to Mr. Howard’s letter titled “Government, quit wasting my money” in Wednesday’s Coastal Courier. We agree the county governing authority is spending money they don’t have while our country is experiencing troubling economic conditions.
Our governor has recognized the state is in trouble and must cut back on spending. He is not just cutting unnecessary spending but has directed all agencies to reduce spending. Many state employees (DFCS personnel for example) are having to take furlough days.
At this same time our local government is busy buying coastal property for a marina, building a new justice center (Where is the money coming from to maintain and operate this new facility after we build it with SPLOST funds?) and planning several new capital projects. This does not seem to be prudent at this time.
We do take exception to all of the comments about our county CFO, Ms. McGlothlin. She is not the decision-maker on how the county spends its money so she shouldn’t be included in the letter as being responsible for wasting our tax money. She did not bless any of these extravaganzas nor does she support wasteful spending of taxpayer money. We suggest Mr. Howard and others who feel Ms. McGlothlin is responsible for the county’s wasteful spending attend a mid-month commission meeting (third Thursday of each month at 5 p.m.) and they can hear first hand her financial report and suggestions to the commission.
We attended the most recent meeting last Thursday, Sept. 18, where Ms. McGlothlin reported to the commissioners that, based on her review, the county could experience a cash flow problem especially if the county (commissioners, board of education, hospital authority and development authority) did not establish a millage rate and send out 2008 tax bills by late October. There is no reason that the county doesn’t get this done and avoid having to borrow money at additional taxpayer expense. We suspect that they are waiting until the Nov. 4 election to see if SPLOST is approved. They are concerned that if they raise taxes before the vote that it will jeopardize SPLOST being approved. That seems to us to be a valid concern.
In closing, we feel that Ms. McGlothlin does a very good job for our county and fully earns her salary. Those who know us know that we expect a lot for our tax dollar and that we don’t take management of our county resources lightly.

John T. Henderson III
Pamela Henderson
Colonels Island