WINNSBORO – County Administrator Vic Carpenter addressed, during Monday night’s county council meeting, recent social media claims suggesting that the Council on Aging was being denied additional funding from the county due to an allocation of $250,000 made for repairs to the Animal Control facility in the FY 2025-26 budget. Those claims turned up on the Facebook pages of at least two members of the Animal Ad Hoc Committee who are charged with advocating for the welfare of Fairfield County animals.
“These are not competing priorities,” Carpenter said. “The $85,000 currently allocated to the Fairfield County Council on Aging (FCCOA) remains unchanged in the FY 2025-26 budget.
“To say that we value animals more than seniors, our senior funding is, I believe, generous, and it’s been sustained through the years,” Carpenter said. “The animal shelter funding is a one-time capital outlay, and it’s driven by state law, state mandates, and safety.”
He said an increase of $100,000 was requested [by the FCCOA] in the new budget, which would bring its allocation to $185,000.
“The stated reason given to justify that level of increase was to sustain a weekend feeding program that had previously been funded using ARPA funds. Those funds ran out and went away. Every county in the state was eligible to participate in that program,” Carpenter said. “To my research, when the funds went away, no other county continued that program going forward. I was not able to find any that continued that feeding program. So, the decision in putting together the budget was to sustain the budget at $85,000. There were no cuts in funding to the FCCOA.”
While some counties provide only in-kind support or modest general appropriations, Fairfield’s contribution exceeds other rural counties in both size and consistency, Carpenter said.
According to regional comparisons, similarly sized counties in South Carolina often contribute between $15,000 and $80,000 annually to aging services. Fairfield’s $85,000 allocation places it well above that average, supporting programs such as home-delivered meals, senior transportation, and community engagement for older adults, Carpenter told council.
“The level at which we support this agency is significantly greater than any other county I could identify or find in the state,” Carpenter said. “I was able to discuss with 14 other counties in South Carolina what they funded. Not a single county, with one exception, provided more direct funding to their Council on Aging, and that was Berkeley County. They provided $160,000 to a county of over 200,000 people. We are among the highest, if not the highest per capita contributor to senior services from a county general fund of any county in South Carolina.
“The counties that I discussed and found all contribute less, either per capita or less in actual dollars,” Carpenter said. “Several large counties provided no funding, however, Dorchester and Lexington have a taxpayer approved millage that goes to their senior agency. We have sustained the investment that we have given [to FCCOA] for a number of years, so we have a long term commitment to this organization.”
Carpenter also emphasized that the proposed $250,000 allocation for Animal Control is a critical infrastructure upgrade.
“It is a one-time capital improvement required for the facility to meet state compliance standards,” Carpenter said. “It is entirely unrelated to FCCOA’s funding and does not impact the county’s support for senior services in any way. We are required by state law to maintain a facility that meets minimum safety standards set by the state. We must provide a humane and compassionate facility for the treatment and care of animals placed in our custody. State law requires that,” he said.
“I’ve met with the [FCCOA] executive director,” Carpenter said, “and I have listened to her concerns and explained my rationale in coming up with the recommendation that I provided to you. The budget I provided maintains and provides support for our aging community and ensures humane, compliant animal facilities.”
