At a glance
Spending outgrew prices and population
Total governmental spending more than doubled. Prices rose by about three-fifths and the population by about a fifth over the same years.
Growth since FY2006
Each line relative to its own FY2006 level (FY2006 = 100), so they share one scale. Spending is all governmental funds.
The tax rate jumped after FY2021
County millage was flat or falling for fifteen years, then rose by about half in two years. Property tax collected per resident, after inflation, climbed with it.
Total county direct millage
County operations, bonds, fire, library, Tri-County Tech and sewer. Excludes school and city rates.
Property tax revenue per resident
All governmental funds, in 2025 dollars.
Budgets forecast deficits that rarely came
Every final amended General Fund budget from FY2011 through FY2025 planned to draw down reserves. Revenue beat the original budget and spending came in under the final budget every single year, and the reserve stayed several times the usual minimum.
General Fund: planned vs actual change in fund balance
Final amended budget vs actual result, in millions of dollars.
General Fund balance in months of spending
General Fund balance divided by that year's General Fund spending. Dashed line: the common two-month minimum recommended by the Government Finance Officers Association.
Where the money goes
Public safety spending per resident grew steadily. Public works, which includes roads, fell after inflation even as the county grew.
Spending per resident by function, in 2025 dollars
Governmental fund spending by function, divided by population.
Audit findings by year
Three straight years, FY2023 through FY2025, have material weaknesses in financial reporting, each corrected only after the outside auditor raised it. The ARPA procurement finding repeated.
From the independent auditor's reports in each year's annual financial report. "Material weakness" refers to internal control over financial reporting.
| Year | Auditor | Material weakness | What the auditor said |
|---|
Gaps in the county's own reporting
| Issue | Detail |
|---|
What else explains the numbers
Some of the change has ordinary explanations, and they belong next to the totals.
The fire levy replaced district levies
Most of the FY2023 millage jump is the new 23-mill countywide fire levy. It replaced separate fire district rates, such as Keowee Vineyards and Keowee Springs at roughly 40–52 mills, so some owners pay less for fire service than before.
Demand rose
A new detention center opened in FY2020. Over the decade, 911 calls rose from about 49,000 to 87,000 a year and coroner investigations from about 800 to 3,650.
Debt is low
Total county debt is about $250 per resident and under half a percent of personal income, well inside the state's legal limit.
Cautious budgeting is common
Governments often budget revenue low and spending high on purpose. The question here is the size and consistency of the gap, year after year.
Year by year
Dollar figures in millions, not adjusted for inflation.
| Year | Spending | Property tax | Mills | GF balance |
|---|
Sources, method and data
Everything here comes from public records. FY2006–FY2015 figures come from the statistical section of the county's FY2015 annual report, and FY2016–FY2025 from the FY2025 report. General Fund budget-vs-actual figures and audit results come from each year's report. Inflation uses the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U, averaged over each July–June fiscal year.
This is an independent review of published reports, not an audit. The county revised its population series between FY2015 and FY2016, so per-resident figures shift slightly at that point. General Fund spending for FY2011–FY2015 is on the budgetary basis. The FY2006–FY2010 reports are scanned images, so their audit letters were not reviewed. Corrections are welcome.