For the second time in two years, the state of South Carolina has frozen state funding to Hampton County government after the county failed to file financial reports as required by law.

The South Carolina Treasurer’s Office confirmed to The Hampton County Guardian Wednesday that Hampton County has not submitted its Fiscal Year 2023 external audit to the State Treasurer’s Office as required by law, and as a result, there will be financial and possibly legal consequences.

“As a result of not submitting their audit, their funds are being withheld,” stated Karen Ingram, Communications Director with the S.C. Treasurer’s Office, in an email to The Guardian. “The state treasurer will withhold state aid to subdivision funds until the audit is submitted.”

Ingram added that the state treasurer will hold all the distributions they normally send to Hampton County, but wouldn’t stop all payments from other agencies.

Counties required to conduct annual audits

Counties in South Carolina are required to engage external firms to conduct annual financial audits. These audit reports are due Jan. 1 for the previous fiscal year (ending June 30).

Counties may request a 90-day extension. Hampton County applied for and received the 90-day extension, which ended March 31 and still has not filed the report.

Council member, SC Rep. Hager respond

Administrator Lavar Youmans, Treasurer Jennifer Ginn Youmans, and the majority of the Council members did not return emails seeking comment. However, one councilperson, Camille Welch, offered a statement.

“I can not comment or share any information concerning the status of the audit because I have been provided no information,” Welch said. “Due to some health issues, I have been unable to attend recent meetings, however, I have requested to be included and provided with information via multiple emails and asked for clarification concerning decisions taken and agreements entered into with consultants but they have not been answered. Council, the county attorney and the administrator have been copied on all emails.”

S.C. Representative William Hager (House District 122) also issued a statement:

“It is unfortunate that Hampton County has had more than one instance of a late annual audit. Theseaudits are required by the State of South Carolina, and the fact that we are now once again past boththe deadline and the grace period is unconscionable. It is almost certain that the state will cut offfunding to the county as a result. When this happened last time, the former Comptroller Generalreleased those funds on his way out of office. We will not have that good fortune this time. I hope thatthe county council, treasurer, and administrator handle this situation with the seriousness itrequires.”

Treasurer’s Office froze funding in 2023

The S.C. Treasurer’s Office also froze state funding over the same issue in March 2023. This freeze impacted money for Hampton County EMS, the Council on Aging, and other departments and services.

S.C. state law mandates that “municipalities and counties perform annual audits to ensure the proper collection, reporting and distribution of fines and assessments from the point of collection to the point of distribution. Audits should include a supplementary schedule detailing all fines and assessments collected at the court level, the amount remitted to the municipal or county treasurer and the amount remitted to the State Treasurer,” states the S.C. Treasurer’s website.

“Effective June 7, 2023, SC Code Section 4-9-150 was amended to transition the responsibility of collection of county annual audits and management of related withholding from the Comptroller General’s Office to the State Treasurer’s Office. The State Treasurer’s Office is required to withhold certain funding if local governments do not submit their completed audit within the time parameters prescribed in state law.”

Local governments can submit their audits online by emailing them. Counties may request an extension of up to 90 days using an online form.

Six SC counties ‘failed to submit their annual audit’

As of April 10, Hampton County was one of six counties that “failed to submit their annual financial audit to the State Treasurer’s Office within the parameters prescribed in state law,” added the website. Those counties include Allendale, Calhoun, Hampton, Marion, Orangeburg, and Williamsburg.

To learn more about this issue, go to the S.C. Treasurer’s Audit Information webpage.

This story may be updated if additional information develops, or public officials respond with comment.