kitchen countertopsin North Charleston, SC

NORTH CHARLESTON — City leaders are on track to increase the salary of the mayor to $218,310 a year, a 12.6 percent increase over incumbent Keith Summey’s current pay of $193,880.

The full City Council will take its first vote on the matter Feb. 23 after its finance committee earlier voted 8-2 to raise the pay for the city’s mayoral position, making North Charleston’s mayor the highest paid in South Carolina.

If passed, the mayor and council member salaries would go into effect in January 2024 — after the city’s November municipal election.

The city contracted the outside firm of Management Advisory Group to analyze the salaries of the mayor, City Council and employees. MAG recommended a 20 percent increase for the mayor, which would’ve put the mayor’s pay at $234,000.

City staff instead recommended a 12.6 percent raise, equal to the raises employees have received over the past three years.

The firm also recommended an increase for other elected officials. The city’s Finance Committee, which includes all members of the council, voted the same day in a 6-4 vote to also increase the salaries of North Charleston City Council members from $20,657 to $23,260 a year.

MAG said the salary increases are meant to “more adequately compensate for the time and effort to do their jobs involved in the diligent performance of their responsibilities and bring the city in line with comparable cities within the state.”

MAG did a similar analysis in 2019, after which City Council approved the current pay for mayor and council. The new salaries will go to whoever is elected in the city’s November general election.

North Charleston has a full-time mayoral position, as opposed to some other governments where the mayor might serve in a part-time capacity.

First elected in 1994, Summey, 75, has remained tight-lipped about his political future, though several sources inside City Hall have said Summey has told them he does not plan to run for an eighth term. He told reporters at City Hall on Feb. 22 that he’ll make a decision within 30 days.

“I love what I do,” Summey said. “In a couple of weeks, I’ll be 76 years old. I have four beautiful grandkids. I’ve got to make up my mind. I’ll do a final sit-down in the next couple of weeks with my family and make it a family decision.”

Summey’s financial activity for a potential political campaign has been mostly dormant. His campaign finance reports show no fundraising activity for 2022.

North Charleston is one of two large South Carolina municipalities that use a strong-mayor form of government in which the mayor runs the city’s day-to-day operations acting as a chief administrator. In Charleston, Mayor John Tecklenburg earns $214,394.39 annually.

Elsewhere throughout the Palmetto State, mayors of larger cities mostly act as elected officials who preside over council meetings while hired city mangers run daily operations of local government.

Columbia City Manager Teresa Wilson makes $228,314, according to 2021 data provided online by the city. At the time, then-Mayor Steve Benjamin earned $75,000. Greenville manager John McDonough earns $278,512, according to the Municipal Association of South Carolina. Part-time Mayor Knox White makes $24,000.

The uncertainty surrounding the North Charleston mayoral position is one of the reasons Councilman Bob King voted against the salary bump. King said he may have supported the pay raise if Summey had planned to run for reelection.

That said, $213,000 is still too high of a salary, King said.

Councilman Ron Brinson, who also voted against the pay raises, said the timing of the proposals isn’t ideal.

“I think with all that’s going on in the economy, it’s just not a good look,” Brinson said.

The full City Council will have to make a final decision on the new salaries. Council meets at 7 p.m. Feb. 23 to make an initial vote inside City Hall.

NORTH CHARLESTON — The city of North Charleston is planning to make a $6 million purchase of about 400 acres of land around Ingleside Boulevard, property that will be used to develop what the city is calling an urban park.

But this recreational amenity that some say will enhance quality of life is raising concerns about livability.

City Council voted unanimously April 27 to move forward with buying the property, currently owned by Weber USA Corp. The tracts of land make up what is known as the Ingleside Weber Park System, located west of Interstate 26.

Most of the property consists of wetlands, though just over 100 acres are highlands, or areas that can be walked or built upon. The idea is to use the 400-acre space to create a passive park that will include boardwalks, walking paths and nature trails.

Instead of having to travel elsewhere to hike or enjoy the outdoors, people in North Charleston will be able to practice that kind of recreational activity essentially in their own backyard, Mayor Keith Summey said.

To pay for the land purchase, $3 million is being provided in Charleston County Greenbelt funds, $1 million in city tax-increment finance district funds, $1 million from the South Carolina Conservation Bank, and $1 million from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

City spokesman Ryan Johnson said North Charleston is doing the project because the plan is a good use of greenbelt funds, which are designed to help conserve outdoor space. It was also convenient that North Charleston was able to secure additional grant opportunities, Johnson added. There is no timetable yet for the park’s construction.

“Having a big park in an urban core is a very good amenity,” he said.

The idea of a park that could potentially bring more noise to the area alarmed Councilwoman Virginia Jamison, who has been fighting for a decade for a sound barrier to be built along I-26 to protect members of Deerpark, Northwood Estates and other adjacent communities from the blaring sounds of traffic commuting along the highway. Acquiring necessary funding from the city, county or state to build the wall has not been successful.

During a recent Finance Committee meeting, Jamison said her constituents are concerned about the increased levels of sounds emitting from the interstate and they are also worried that more noise will come from the new park. Traffic could also increase soon, as the county’s new Palmetto Commerce Interchange will soon be constructed nearby at Weber Boulevard.

Other development is also on the way to Ingleside Boulevard, which is already home to a few neighborhoods, several churches and a handful of businesses. Developers are planning on the southern end of the boulevard to build a town center that will include retail and restaurant space, a parking deck, hundreds of apartment units, and hundreds of hotel rooms.

Jamison called on City Council to take noise reduction seriously.

“If this body is not concerned about the livability and quality of life in our city, then I have a problem,” said Jamison, who did not attend the April 27 full council meeting.

Councilwoman Dorothy Williams echoed her concerns.

Summey implied that the park will center on passive nature, pointing to its focus on walking trails. The only physical building that will be constructed at the park is a facility to house restrooms and first aid.

The North Charleston Fire Department says Ashley Phosphate Road is partially open as crews remain on scene of a fire involving multiple mobile homes.

Published: Tue May 02 2023|Updated: Wed May 03 2023

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The North Charleston Fire Department provided updated information Wednesday on a fire that damaged several mobile homes and required the temporary closure of a major roadway late Tuesday afternoon.

A total of nine adults and three children have been displaced by the fire, which damaged five homes on Beret Street, Assistant Fire Chief Chris Rainey said. EMS took one North Charleston firefighter to an area hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

The fire department responded to a 911 call at 4:48 p.m. The first crews to arrive at the scene reported heavy smoke and flames coming from a single-family home.

“Crews made entry to extinguish the fire,” Rainey said. “Firefighters encountered heavy fire and heat inside the home. All residents had evacuated the home.”

They spotted fire extending to a second home and Rainey said high-wind conditions hampered efforts to put out the fires and caused flames to spread to three additional homes.

“This fire has been a wind-driven fire,” North Charleston Fire Safety Coordinator Laura Kondor said at the scene Tuesday night.

Firefighters were able to prevent the fire from spreading to a sixth home, Rainey said.

Kondor said the homes affected by the fire were either a complete loss or partially damaged.

John Marlowe lives across the street from where the fire broke out. He said he was doing yard work when he looked up and saw his neighbor’s home engulfed in flames.

“I was just weed-eating the yard and I looked across the street and saw a bunch of flames coming out of a house,” Marlowe said.

He said he ran over and grabbed a water hose, trying to put out the fire, but there wasn’t enough pressure in the hose to help.

“A bunch of houses went on fire; six houses went down and all of them my friends. All of them are without a home now,” Marlowe said.

Officials with the North Charleston Fire Department said there was not enough water supply in the area to support the amount of fire trucks on scene.

Officials said several power lines were also affected.

The fire forced officials to shut down a portion of Ashley Phosphate Road near the Cathedral of Praise to extend fire hoses for several hours, Rainey said.

Investigators are still working to determine the cause of the fire.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C., May 02, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ingevity Corporation (NYSE:NGVT) announced today that operations at the company’s North Charleston, South Carolina, plant will continue as normal with the announced closure of WestRock Company’s (NYSE:WRK) North Charleston, South Carolina, paper mill. The two companies will work together to transition limited shared services ahead of the August 31, 2023, closure of the WestRock facility. The companies share a common history, but Ingevity has operated as a stand-alone public company since May of 2016.

"While we anticipate some cost with the transition of shared services, we expect minimal disruption to our operations," said Ingevity president and CEO, John Fortson. "Our primary focus as WestRock exits their plant site is to ensure safe operations and continue to meet the needs of our customers."

WestRock’s plant closure does not impact Ingevity’s recently announced long-term supply agreement for crude tall oil (CTO) with WestRock.

Ingevity: Purify, Protect and Enhance

Ingevity provides products and technologies that purify, protect and enhance the world around us. Through a team of talented and experienced people, we develop, manufacture and bring to market solutions that help customers solve complex problems and make the world more sustainable. We operate in three reporting segments: Performance Chemicals, which includes specialty chemicals and pavement technologies; Advanced Polymer Technologies, which includes biodegradable plastics and polyurethane materials; and Performance Materials, which includes activated carbon. Our products are used in a variety of demanding applications, including adhesives, agrochemicals, asphalt paving, bioplastics, coatings, elastomers, lubricants, pavement markings, publication inks, oil exploration and production and automotive components that reduce gasoline vapor emissions. Headquartered in North Charleston, South Carolina, Ingevity operates from 31 countries around the world and employs approximately 2,050 people. The company’s common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:NGVT). For more information visit www.ingevity.com. Follow Ingevity on LinkedIn.

NORTH CHARLESTON — The landmark paper mill here will close for good this summer, more than 86 years after establishing itself along the Cooper River as an industrial economic pillar for the Lowcountry through good times and bad.

WestRock Co. announced May 2 that the site will be shut down Aug. 31, citing a “combination of high operating costs and the need for significant capital investment.”

“WestRock is committed to improving its return on invested capital as well as maximizing the performance of its assets,” the Atlanta-based company said.

The hulking blue industrial complex known for emitting a distinctive sulfur-like odor employs about 500 workers, down about 44 percent over the past five years.

It’s been manufacturing goods from pine trees since July 1937, when a distant corporate ancestor of the current owner and operator fired up its machinery for the first time off of Virginia Avenue.

“WestRock and its predecessor companies have had a long history in the region operating the North Charleston mill, and the contributions of the team members over the years have been greatly appreciated,” CEO David B. Sewell said in a written statement.

He added that the decision “to close a facility and impact the lives of our team members is never easy, and we are committed to assisting our North Charleston team with exploring roles at other WestRock locations and outplacement assistance.”

Mayor Keith Summey lamented the closure but said he realized it was only a matter of time when, in 2019, the company announced it was shuttering a local production line and eliminating about 260 jobs.

“We’ve known for a while that the industry has been going down,” Summey said May 2. “The biggest thing we will be doing now is trying to find jobs for those folks who are laid off so they won’t have to leave.”

It wasn’t immediately clear what will become of the roughly 331-acre waterfront site between U.S. Interstate 526 and the State Ports Authority’s North Charleston Terminal. The company said that after the 120-day shutdown period “the property will be prepared for sale.”

“It will make a valuable piece of land for development for the future,” Summey said.

WestRock acquired the mill in late 2018 as part of its buyout of KapStone Paper & Packaging Corp. At the time, the North Charleston site employed about 900 workers.

The plant manufactures several products, including containerboard, and can turn out about 550,000 tons a year. WestRock said it plans to stop making a commodity known in the industry as “unbleached saturating kraft paper” after the shutdown is completed.

WestRock estimated in a federal securities filing Tuesday that the cost of the closure against its earnings will be $515 million, including asset write-offs and $28 million in severance and other employee-related expenses.

Remarkably, the mill has changed hands just twice since it made its debut near the end of the Great Depression. Many old-timers in the Charleston region still refer to it as “Westvaco,” reflecting a truncated name of the company that built it.

It started with William Luke, whose Piedmont Pulp & Paper Co. was incorporated in 1899 as West Virginia Pulp & Paper Co. The name was shortened to Westvaco Corp. in 1969 and then became MeadWestvaco about 20 years ago, reflecting the buyout of a rival manufacturer. It sold the North Charleston mill in 2008 to Chicago-based KapStone.

The acquisition of MeadWestvaco by Rock-Tenn Corp. in 2015 gave rise to the WestRock brand. The ownership of the mill came full circle nearly five years ago, when the company snapped up KapStone.

WestRock’s other forest-product operations in South Carolina include several manufacturing plants in Florence, Cowpens, Latta and Spartanburg. It sold its Summerville sawmill to a Canadian company in 2021.

WestRock also exited a land development venture that MeadWestvaco had launched. And it spun off a chemical division into what is now Ingevity Corp., a publicly traded company headquartered just down the road from the North Charleston paper mill.

NEW YORK — Most taxpayers are interested in filing their taxes directly to the IRS for free, a new report says, and that option will be tested next year.

The Internal Revenue Service has spent the past nine months studying whether U.S. taxpayers want to see a free, e-filing system run by the government — and is now preparing to launch a pilot program.

The prospect of a free, government-run, online system has been debated for a long time. Supporters argue that the option would make tax return services more equitable and accessible for taxpayers nationwide.

But there’s also been pushback from some big tax-prep companies.

Now, the IRS plans to launch a pilot program for the 2024 filing season to test a “direct file” system and help the federal government decide on whether to move forward with potentially implementing it in the future, IRS commissioner Danny Werfel and the Treasury Department official Laurel Blatchford confirmed on May 16.

There’s still limited details about the pilot as the agency determines the basic structure of the program, but Werfel said that members of the public will have the option to participate.

The IRS was tasked with looking into how to create a “direct file” system as part of the funding it received from the Inflation Reduction Act, Democrats’ flagship climate and health care measure that President Joe Biden signed last summer. It gave the IRS nine months and $15 million to report on how such a program would be implemented.

The IRS published a feasibility report Tuesday — which lays out taxpayer interest in direct file, how the system could work, its potential cost, operational challenges and more.

The report shows that the majority of surveyed taxpayers would be interested in using an IRS-provided tool to prepare and file their taxes electronically — and that the IRS is “technically capable of delivering direct file, but doing so would require additional resources and add complexity to IRS operations,” Werfel said.

The IRS’s existing free e-file option, available to lower income taxpayers who qualify, will remain in place, he added. Individuals of all income levels can also still submit their returns for free via the mail — although it can take months to process paper returns and taxpayers will still have to buy postage.

The new, direct e-file program being tested “could potentially save taxpayers billions of dollars annually,” said Blatchford, who noted that an individual taxpayer pays an average of $140 preparing a tax return each year.

The report’s initial cost analysis show that a pre-file option run by the IRS “could cost less than $10 per return to provide, and of course would be free to taxpayers — by comparison, simple electronic filing options currently available to taxpayers are around $40.”

The study estimates that annual costs of direct file may range, depending on the program’s usage and scope, from $64 million for 5 million users to $249 million for 25 million users.

“We believe today’s announcement is a significant step toward revolutionizing access to the tax system so that it is easier and more equitable. A free and simple direct file service will ensure that more families in America receive the tax benefits they are eligible for,” Amanda Renteria, CEO of civic tech nonprofit Code for America, said in a statement.

While supporters applauded the pilot program, critics have expressed skepticism about the IRS taking on the dual roles of both tax collector and tax preparer, arguing that the new service could create a power imbalance between taxpayers and the government.

There’s also concern about historic racial disparities and bias seen in the IRS’s enforcement of tax laws. In a Monday letter to the U.S. Senate, Werfel confirmed the IRS found that Black taxpayers may be audited at higher rates.

Big tax preparation companies also have millions of dollars to lose if the program comes to fruition. Last year, more than 60 million taxpayers were serviced between Intuit, the parent company of TurboTax, and H&R Block.

Neither H&R Block nor Intuit were immediately available to comment on Tuesday.

An Associated Press analysis shows that Intuit, H&R Block, and other private companies and advocacy groups for large tax preparation businesses, as well as proponents in favor of electronic free file, have reported spending $39.3 million since 2006 to lobby on “free-file” and other matters. Federal law doesn’t require domestic lobbyists to itemize expenses by specific issue, so the sums are not limited to free-file.

Werfel on Tuesday acknowledged concerns surrounding a possible direct file system, notably operational challenges, but maintained taxpayers should chose the filing option that works best for them and that “the IRS cannot run the tax system alone.”

“We rely on an extensive network of partners across tax professional groups, the software communities, the payroll community and countless dedicated organizations that work directly with taxpayers,” Werfel said. “This report changes none of that.”

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