WALHALLA — Just as he did at the previous council meeting when he made a motion to reduce property taxes to cut the budget by $6 million, Oconee Councilman Wayne McCall waited to the end of Tuesday night’s meeting to stir the pot again.

This time, McCall presented a motion to appoint an auditor to review the county’s revenues and expenditures to determine why and how Oconee’s fund surplus has ballooned over the past several years.

Unlike the previous meeting when his motion died for lack of support, McCall got a second from Councilman Joel Thrift and careful consideration from Councilman Paul Corbeil.

Ultimately, the motion was voted down by the majority.

McCall asked for the independent audit in response to persistent reports on the apparent spike in the county’s fund reserves fueled by Duke Energy’s $14.5 million windfall back-tax payment in 2006 and property tax reassessment that same year. County Treasurer Greg Nowell and others have argued that those events have consistently inflated the county’s budget annually since then because there has never been a sufficient reduction in millage.

Alluding to The Journal’s aggressive questioning of Oconee’s over-taxation problem, and that council members are getting “beat up” by the coverage, McCall said it’s time for an audit.

“Before being elected last November, a majority of us on the council promised to have an audit conducted to see exactly what was happening to county taxes,” McCall said. “Now is the time to keep that promise.”

Council Chairman Reg Dexter took exception with McCall’s “beat up” comment. Dexter said he’s answered every e-mail sent to him and for the most part has receive many “pats on the back.”

Dexter criticized the local paper’s reporting, saying it fails to show that the county was under-collecting revenues by millions of dollars prior to Duke’s windfall payment and reassessment.

Dexter also questioned how much such an audit would cost, saying he and McCall were told it could cost $250,000 for starters and exceed $1 million in subsequent years. Dexter said that’s one expense he would not want to hang on taxpayers’ necks with so many pressing needs confronting the county.

Corbeil said he spoke with McCall and Nowell and they all agreed that a financial audit is not needed. He said the council is committed to look hard at budgets going forward and agreed that down the road it might need assistance from an outside firm or business consultant.

Corbeil also presented a financial statement showing the county with total cash and investment balance of $49.3 million as of June 30. However, after accounting for reserves for bond sinking funds, encumbered liabilities and commitments, other reserves to maintain bond rating and for emergencies, and pending capital projects, he said the remaining cash is almost $602,000.

“We’re not sitting on a pot of gold,” he said.

carlos@dailyjm.com | (864) 882-2375