Who is running the show?

The show is our state and the agency running it is The Budget and Control Board with the help of the South Carolina Legislature. The Budget and Control Board is a government agency created in 1950 and unique to the state of South Carolina. The website for the Budget and Control Board states that its single mission is "to make government better for the people of South Carolina." Why then with only one mission does this board fall so short of its goal and in fact have quite the opposite effect?

The Budget and Control Board currently controls one-fifth of the General Fund budget and consists of six different divisions. One division is a general services branch that has the responsibility of facilities management for state-owned buildings. The Budget and Control board currently charges state agencies rent or property management services for debt free properties at a very expensive rate. That rate is $11.29 per square foot. Some agencies feel that this is a very inflated rate. As an example, The State Museum determined that it could provide its own property management for $8.88 per square foot. They could then put $250,000 away in a capital reserve fund and save the taxpayers $682,973.

The total collected in rent monies in 2008 by The Budget and Control Board was over $18 million from 23 state agencies; including the governor's office. In addition The Budget and Control Board bills these agencies for services that should be covered in their property management agreement. So to put this in simpler terms; the taxpayers are paying rent to the state for buildings that the state has already purchased with taxpayer dollars. Where is the rent money going then, back to the taxpayers? Not the last time I checked.

The answer is not transparent. One cannot be sure where the rent or property management fees are actually going. What is certain is that The Budget and Control Board ended 2008 with a $25.9 million surplus while other agencies were making drastic budget cuts. This leads one to ask the obvious, why then could The Budget and Control Board not reduce their rental or property management fees for these state agencies?

This is only one of many archaic practices going on within the scope of The Budget and Control Board. Yet, it is a good example of the practices which continue to drive our state into the dire financial circumstances that we are currently experiencing.

The Budget and Control Board was created in 1950, but the reasoning at that time was not to make government better, it was in fact to ensure that if an African American were elected to the position of governor, he or she would have very little power.

The Budget and Control board consists of five members with the governor serving as only one vote on a five member board. The other four members are the Comptroller General, the Treasurer, the Senate Finance Chairman, and the House Ways and Means Chairman. Therefore the design of The Budget and Control Board only allows for most South Carolinians to cast votes for three of the five seated members of the most powerful board in the state.

The design of the government in South Carolina is not that of three branches that we find at the federal level or in most other state governments. The government of South Carolina has really only one very powerful branch, the Legislative Branch. The Legislative Branch appoints judges. They are not elected. Many of our elected officials are also attorneys who go on to try cases in front of the very judges that they have appointed. The Legislative Branch also takes two positions on The Budget and Control Board, the true governing body of our state; therefore usurping many of the duties of the Executive Branch or the governor.

It is time for the antiquated Budget and Control Board to cease to exist. South Carolinians deserve a government consisting of three true branches with transparency and accountability within each branch. The people of this state are intelligent and capable of electing judges to fulfill the duties of the Judicial Branch. Give them this right and ensure that there are no favors that need to be returned to politicians. Give South Carolinians back their Executive Branch and the ability to truly hold their governor accountable.

The current structure of our government leads one to believe that the Legislature and The Budget and Control Board are to blame for our current economic situation. After all, according to the website for The Budget and Control Board, it is their job to appoint a State Auditor and ensure that state agencies stay within their authorized budgets.

The writer is an Aiken resident and a S.C. Policy Council board member. She and her husband operate a small business in downtown Aiken.