Personal Injury Attorney Near Me Lake City, SC

LAKE CITY, S.C. (WPDE) — Lake City’s new administrator, Malik Whitaker, said he’s excited about his new role and has experience and proven leadership that can really help the city.

Whitaker said he’s ready and geared up for the challenge.

ABC15 reached out to him after a community member shared information with us about Whitaker being fired from his last job. He said he wanted to ensure “accurate information is available as I begin this new chapter in Lake City.”

Whitaker said his leadership journey in local government includes nearly three years with the City of Chester, South Carolina, as the city administrator, and a period with Fairfield County as the county administrator, where he chose to transition to pursue the opportunity in Chester.

“I'm proud of the work accomplished in both communities and of the dedicated teams I had the privilege to work alongside. To clarify, my most recent role was with the City of Chester, not Fairfield County. I was not terminated for cause. As you know, local government administrators serve at the discretion of elected councils, and it is not uncommon, particularly after elections, for councils and managers to decide to take different directions. That’s a normal part of this profession and something I fully understand and respect,” said Whitaker.

He added that as he steps into his role in Lake City, he remains focused on leading with “service, transparency, and accountability. “

“I value a professional and respectful relationship with the media and am always open to providing accurate, direct information when questions arise,” said Whitaker.

Whitaker’s first day on the job is Thursday.

Many community members said they’re hopeful Whitaker will be able to help Lake City navigate its massive financial problems.

LAKE CITY — A small city in Florence County has been struggling to pay its bills and employees, but a recently approved loan could help get the city back on its feet.

Florence County agreed to issue a loan of up to $1 million to Lake City at its Oct. 16 county council meeting. The decision followed previous hesitation from the council to approve a loan at its last meeting, which ended up being tabled.

Lake City has struggled with its finances, and recently approved a budget that eliminated 21 city positions, restructured city utility rates that will increase bills and cut $2 million in costs.

The results of the “crisis of cashflow,” as former Interim City Administrator Steven Thompson called it, have been noticeable in the community — commercial garbage has piled up as trucks are down and the city has been unable to buy chlorine for its water system, according to Councilman Jason Springs.

Springs, who is the county councilman over Lake City’s district, said at the Oct. 16 meeting that he is supporting the loan because the city’s sanitation issues will affect everyone if the county doesn’t step in.

Part of the city’s money problems have come from its failure to complete its 2024 audit, which resulted in approximately $90,000 in state revenue being held a month by the State Treasurer’s Office, County Administrator Kevin Yokim said at the meeting. Three months have passed without the revenue.

The city’s audit is in the works now, but may not be completed for a few weeks, Yokim said. In the meantime, the city needs more funds.

The $1 million loan will be paid quarterly by the city over the next five years with 5 percent interest, Yokim said. If the city defaults on the loan, the county will have the treasurer’s office direct the city’s local sales tax to them. The county could also hold the city’s property tax, which would lead to bankruptcy.

Lake City doesn’t have the kind of credit rating that allows it to sell bonds, Thompson said at the city’s Oct. 14 meeting. Instead, Florence County is backing the $1 million in bonds, and the city will spend $210,000 in debt service and interest for the next five years. The funds are already built into the city’s budget, Thompson said.

The decision to approve the loan follows the tabling of a $600,000 loan to Lake City at the council’s September meeting.

“I feel much more comfortable today than I did at last month’s council meeting,” Springs, who motioned to table the loan in September, said. “At that point, I honestly had grown very frustrated with the lack of progress on getting there, but since our last meeting they’ve made some pretty significant changes, and they did approve a revised budget this past Tuesday.”

Springs said at the county council meeting that Lake City had a budget that was not being followed by staff and that revenues shown on the budget had possibly not been accurate.

“There was co-mingling of funds, grant money mixed in with general operating funds, utility funds mixed with general operating funds,” Springs said. “Basically, there was money in the bank, (and) I think they were spending it and it was not being properly coded. It was not being followed in the proper budget as it should.”

Springs also mentioned an influx of city hirings over the past four years, saying that in 2021, the city had about 79 employees, and last year’s budget showed the city having 135 employees, though Springs said there may have been even more employees that were not “even on the books.”

Springs said that Thompson and his staff went through and accurately accounted for where money had been spent and allocated.

Thompson’s stint as the city’s interim administrator recently came to an end this week after the city hired his full-time replacement, Malik Whitaker. Whitaker told The Post and Courier it feels good to have been selected.

"This is a community with an incredible amount of potential," Whitaker said.

Springs told The Post and Courier that Whitaker has a clear vision for the city and that having a full-time, permanent administrator will give the city consistency.

“I’m optimistic that the mayor and council are moving things in the right direction,” Springs told The Post and Courier.

Lake City is not the only small municipality in Florence that is in need. The approval of a $210,000 loan for Pamplico, a town of a little more than 1,000 people, also took place at the county council meeting.

Pamplico is in the same boat as Lake City with its audit. The town has been missing out on $18,000 a month due to a delinquent audit that could take three more months to complete.

Yokim said the town needs the loan until the treasurer’s office resumes the town’s payments.

LAKE CITY, S.C. (WPDE) — Florence County councilmembers gave the green light Thursday morning for a loan of up to $1 million to help Lake City avoid having to file for bankruptcy due to major financial problems.

Florence County Administrator Kevin Yokim explained details of Lake City's situation to council members.

"The South Carolina Treasurer's Office has been withholding funds from the city to include its portion of the local option sales taxes in accordance with South Carolina provides a 98.9. City currently collects approximately $90,000 in local option sales taxes per month and needs this loan until the South Carolina Treasurer's Office (STO) receives payments. Three months of sales taxes have already been withheld. Delinquent audit is currently in process, but may not be completed for a few weeks. Lake City is requesting that the county enter into this loan. The loan would be repaid from the city's budget going forward," said Yokim.

Lake City is in a financial crisis. The South Carolina Treasurer's Office is withholding $406,000 in local option sales tax funds from the city.

Lake City cut 34 positions since June and had to redo its budget to trim $2 million in spending.

Lake City's interim administrator said in a memo last month that the city was on the verge of bankruptcy.

Florence County Councilman Jason Springs has been keeping up with the matter, as Lake City is in his district.

Springs shared some alarming information with fellow county council members.

"There was co-mingling of funds, grant money mixed in with general operating fund, utility funds mixed with general operating fund. Basically, there was money in the bank, I think they were spending it, and it was not being properly coded. It was not being followed in the proper budget as it should have been," said Springs.

Springs went into great detail about the city's cash flow problem and a myriad of problems created as a result of it.

"I know two weeks ago they were down to $210,000. That's not much for a city government. The reason that I'm supporting us loaning them this money is while as frustrated as I am as everyone else is I think in the county at how things have gone in Lake City, the problem is if we don't step in and help them take or help them with some a financial infusion here. Then we're already seeing problems with commercial businesses are not getting their trash dump, which in turn has caused a problem for the county. Because now we've got businesses taking their trash to demand convenience centers and they're overloading demand convenience centers, not for commercial use. We've had to step in with that some of that. But, when we've got local businesses who can't throw away their discarded food like as in restaurants and hotels. And other businesses like that that's a sanitation problem. We've got dumpsters overflowing all over town. And the other problem is, with not just that, it's to the point that a week or so ago, the city was no longer able to purchase chlorine for the water system. That affects a lot of people, not just people who are citizens of Lake City. That's people who are in the county who are on that water system.

"This will allow them to do those things to keep water and sanitation going and to keep the entire city doing what it needs to do," said Springs.

The City of Florence helped Lake City collect trash from its commercial businesses. Florence city officials said they plan to bill Lake City around $4,000 for the work.

Lake City's interim administrator said their commercial trash truck is done and they've rented one for the time being.

Springs said he thinks the city has to revisit some core services, but hopes they're headed in the right direction. The terms of the loan agreement require Lake City to repay over five years.

Florence County could recoup its money through Lake City's local option sales tax if the city defaults on the loan.

LAKE CITY – A rural South Carolina city that has struggled to pay its bills and employees passed a new frugal budget expected to help the city’s ailing finances — at the cost of city jobs.

Lake City’s finances have been tumultuous. The city announced it had no reserve funds at a September budget workshop. As a result, the city has been working on a more cost effective, but sometimes controversial budget, that passed at its Oct. 14 council meeting.

“This budget isn't a budget that any of us like,” Councilmember Melissa Askins said at the meeting. “None of us want to cut positions and no one wants to raise the water and sewer rates, but these are the necessary steps that we have to take in order to get the city back on track and out of debt.”

As Lake City continues to navigate financial struggles, it’s changing who’s at the helm. Malik Whitaker starts as city administrator Oct. 16, replacing interim City Administrator Steven Thompson.

The city has fallen $3.9 million short of revenue goals in recent years and officials are working to stave off financial turmoil. Already the city has eliminated 13 job positions and the newly approved budget will axe 21 more. Most recently, the city has teetered close to bankruptcy.

Lake City also failed to complete an annual audit, leaving it without more than $100,000 in state funds each month. Thompson said the state withholding shared revenues created a “crisis of cash flow.” The city is having a forensic audit done alongside its annual audit following the depletion of its reserve funds.

In early October, the city was able to avoid missing payroll and bankruptcy, two situations that were on the table according to a letter from Thompson that was obtained by The Post and Courier. A forgotten investment pool allowed the city to avoid crisis.

The city’s new budget comes with the elimination of 21 positions. Of them, 19 were already vacant. The other two positions belong to the city’s assistant administrator and human resources/payroll manager.

The two employees spoke at the city’s Sept. 30 meeting with a plea for their jobs. Mayor Yamekia Robinson asked the council to consider the two jobs and propose an amendment to the budget that would see their positions remain at the Oct. 14 meeting.

Councilmembers Nicole Singletary and Wilhelmina Scott moved the motion forward, and the two approved it alongside Robinson, but the motion ultimately failed with the remaining four council members voting against it.

The budget passed 4-3, mirroring the vote on first reading at the council’s contentious meeting on Sept. 30.

“Even though it didn't go the way that I voted for it to go, it's still a relief (to have the budget completed) because now, just like I stated in my (mayor) reports, we can just pick up the pieces and move forward,” Robinson said.

The proposed new budget will cut more than $2 million in spending. Alongside the elimination of 21 positions, cuts would include:

Revenue changes would include:

Also approved at the meeting was the securing of a tax anticipation note — a short-term borrowing instrument — not exceeding $600,000, and the issuance of a general obligation bond not exceeding $1 million.

Thompson said the city doesn’t have the kind of credit rating that allows it to sell bonds, so instead, Florence County is backing the bonds, and the city will spend $210,000 in debt service and interest for the next five years.

Lake City’s dwindling funds have left trash trucks down, police vehicles in need of maintenance to be in compliance and the city with the threat of being cut off by its vendors.

The city of Florence sent two garbage trucks to collect commercial garbage, Florence City Manager Scotty Davis said at an Oct. 13 Florence City Council meeting. They will be invoicing Lake City roughly $4,000 for the trash pickup, Davis said, though the number is not official.

Thompson wrote in the letter that long term, revenues should stabilize the city by February or early spring with the adoption of the new budget.

Whitaker, the newly hired city administrator who will take over for Thompson, most recently worked as city administrator for Chester, a small, rural city in Chester County.

He was fired unexpectedly at Chester City Council’s Aug. 25 meeting after he had worked about three years on the job, according to previous reporting from The Post and Courier. The council voted 5-3 to fire him in a situation that took some members by surprise.

“I’m still reeling, and it still bothers me,” Councilmember Terry Foster, who voted in the minority, previously said. “I thought the man was doing an excellent job.”

Chester Mayor Carlos Williams, who also voted in the minority, posted a statement on the city’s Facebook page Aug. 27 praising Whitaker.

Whitaker’s ouster followed an Aug. 22 announcement by the Chester Fire District that it would end its partnership with Chester — which came after months of disputes between the commission and Whitaker.

LAKE CITY, SC (WMBF) - Lake City leaders are making moves to tackle the ongoing financial crisis, as residents raise questions and concerns.

Montia Powell, a resident of Lake City, says she wants to know why their city is in this debt hole.

“I don’t know what’s going on with Lake City, but it kind of really makes me want to move out of here,” said Powell.

Interim City Administrator Steve Thompson says the financial issues have been years in the making.

The city council, along with Thompson, has been working on ways to cut costs and increase revenue.

“It’s a structural increase in the rates that most people will see as a slight rate increase,” says Thompson. “It also reduces the expenses of the city. The city is about eighty percent people, and so if you reduce the expenses of the city, you really have to impact people,” said Thompson.

The revised budget still has the deep cuts to city jobs and a rate hike for water and sewer customers.

Thompson says city leaders have decided to move $130,000 out of the Local Government Investment Pool and reallocate the money in another account.

He added that this will help them steer clear of bankruptcy.

“The city invests money through the State treasury office, it’s called the local government investment pool, or LGIP, and we’ve had some money parked there being invested,” said Thompson. “It’s a great fund, a great program because it’s very liquid and it gets good interest rates.”

The city still has $2 million in unpaid debt, which Thompson says they are prioritizing currently.

Residents and business owners will get a closer look at the budget when it is presented during the next council meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 14, at 6 p.m.

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