State budget surplus

[Jerseyman4]

The question now is, what should be done with this year's remaining surplus?

Since i cant log onto the upstate website to answer this question, how much left is there for the surplus?

[Spartan]

You just need to use BugMeNot to get around that sign in thing. I don't think that article says what the current surplus is, but I think I have read that it is $768 million. So there would be about $653 million left over.

[upstate29650]

You just need to use BugMeNot to get around that sign in thing.

What a pain in the rear. No reason we shouldn't be allowed to copy/paste articles here, for general ease of viewing & to engage more discussion. As long as the source & author are noted, there's nothing "illegal" about copying & pasting articles. Unless it's a bandwidth issue.

Just had to get that off my chest. Carry on.....

[waccamatt]

The money should be used to improve our rural schools both in terms of having better buildings and better teachers.

[krazeeboi]

Yeah, overcrowded schools seems to be an issue in this state. Some of that money also needs to go towards infrastructure upgrades/repairs.

[monsoon]

What a pain in the rear. No reason we shouldn't be allowed to copy/paste articles here, for general ease of viewing & to engage more discussion. As long as the source & author are noted, there's nothing "illegal" about copying & pasting articles. Unless it's a bandwidth issue.

Just had to get that off my chest. Carry on.....

Oh my, another arm chair lawyer. You are completely and absolutely wrong about the legal consequences of using someone else's work without permission. You are confusing plagerism with copyright infringement.

[upstate29650]

Ohhh...blah.

Anywho, I read up on the subject, and while it hasn't been determined (apparently) if it's illegal or not, there's debate swirling on how eithical it is. Guess I'll defer to the local rules here.

[Spartan]

What a pain in the rear. No reason we shouldn't be allowed to copy/paste articles here, for general ease of viewing & to engage more discussion. As long as the source & author are noted, there's nothing "illegal" about copying & pasting articles. Unless it's a bandwidth issue.

Just had to get that off my chest. Carry on.....

Its more than that. Its the principle of the thing- The articles do not stimulate discussion. We tried it once and it simply did not work. You would be amazed at how many articles were posted with no replies, and many times if there was a reply it was: "Interesting read" or "good article." We do not want UP to become a news site. We are a discussion board, and that is what we want to facilitate here. If you want to read the article bad enough then you will follow the link and read it at the site.

Sure BugMeNot is an extra step, but if YOU don't want to take it, then you must not want to read the article very badly. Also, if you use Firefox (and everyone should) you can download an extension that will allow you to use BugMeNot with a right click.

[vicupstate]

Legislature looking to buy Paper Mill properties

Getting back to topic, I think any surplus (dubious though it may be), should go to buying some of the land that these paper companies are selling. I didn't realize this was a region (nation?) - wide phenomenon. To say that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is a huge understatement.

I question whether the $30-40 million the state is proposing to spend is enough. Jacksonville leveraged about $50million with private, state and federal funds to buy about 60 square miles of preservation land in the last 5 years. To put that in perspective, Jacksonville is the land area equivalent of Spartanburg County. What about the land area of the other 45 counties? It's not JUST the paper company holdings that are disappearing.

It's good that Charleston has some local funding for conservation (via it's half cent sales tax), that area stands to be impacted the most by these land sales.

[krazeeboi]

Looks like we're in the same situation again. So what to do?

My two suggestions: 1) infrastructure (our roads are horrible); and 2) higher education (tuition increases are simply ridiculous).

[BrasilnSC]

I agree with you Krazee, the two main things I would like to see funded with the left over surplus are 1) roads - we need to lower our fatality rates and our secondary roads are in dire need improvement 2) schools - mainly the crumbling rural county schools that show up on Dateline.

[goodbye]

Looks like we're in the same situation again. So what to do?

My two suggestions: 1) infrastructure (our roads are horrible); and 2) higher education (tuition increases are simply ridiculous).

I'd be satisfied with both of those.

[Greenville]

I also agree with increased funding for infrastructure and higher education.

[BrasilnSC]

If only we were in the state legislature.

[Brikosser]

Whatever will give the biggest return on money spent.

Possibilities:

A. Roads Improvements

1. Fix Intersections

2. Widen Roads

3. Straighten dangerous curves (usually associated with bridge overpasses)

4. Add bike lanes

5. Add sidewalks

6. Repave

7. Streetscaping

B. Schools

1. There is a lot to be done on all levels (Preschool, elementary, middle, high, college)

C. Advertise our state

1. Let people discover what we've got

[Greenville]

C. Advertise our state

1. Let people discover what we've got

This is an excellent point that I don't recall ever seeing mentioned on here. I think when most people think of South Carolina, they think of the coast (Hilton Head, Myrtle Beach, Charleston). There is so much more to the state than that, and I think a much better job can be done promoting it.

And if we decide to go national with our SC commerical, let's make it better than South Dakota! Theirs makes their state look incredibly boring, with pictures of Mount Rushmore (cool) and a ton of wilderness pictures.

[krazeeboi]

It's interesting that we already rank as one of the top states for tourism (#4 last I read) without those types of commercials.

[GvilleSC]

It's interesting that we already rank as one of the top states for tourism (#4 last I read) without those types of commercials.

Which is great, but what about the rest of the state, besides the beaches-- which is most likely where this tourism is...? We have lots of small towns and history along the heritage corridor, the mountains, Carowinds (although that could backfire), Greenville, and Columbia. Not to mention our great national and state parks.

[krazeeboi]

You are correct. I think that the Upstate and Midlands in particular are perfect for developing and promoting ecotourism.

[Spartan]

And the Lowcountry isnt? if anything, I think it is the best place for it.

[krazeeboi]

The Lowcountry is already getting more than its fair share of tourism dollars though. I mentioned the Upstate and Midlands because they aren't the destination hotspots in the state.

[Spartan]

Ah, I see. Fair enough

[Spartan]

Our myopic, pork loving legislature is at it again. Only this time we are facing lower than expected revenues, so they're cutting the budget by $488 million. What if they had used our past surpluses and created created a rainy day fund like our Governor suggested? We probably wouldn't be in as much of a mess- though the surpluses combined probably don't total $488 million.

Although to that end, Gov Sanford vetoed a bill that would have raised the cigarette tax by 50 cents, generating about $165 million.

It will be interesting to see they deem worthy of keeping and worthy of cutting. I liked Sanford's idea of cutting everything by 3% across the board.

http://www.thestate.com/local/story/562207.html

[CorgiMatt]

They need to raise the cigarette taxes on the lady the fumes of whom nearly choked me as I was walking across a parking lot the other day.