RIDGELAND, S.C. — A South Carolina town is being paid nearly $920,000 by the South Carolina prison system to end a four-year dispute over a facility’s water and sewer bill.
The dispute started in 2017 when Ridgeland raised water rates by 400% and sewer rates by 300% for the Ridgeland Correctional Institution.
The Post and Courier reports Corrections Director Bryan Stirling told the State Fiscal Accountability Authority earlier this month that he didn’t want to pay the bill, but he felt he had no choice.
Stirling asked the authority to put pressure on legislators to do something to prevent another town from taking advantage of the state. Ridgeland Town administrator Dennis Averkin declined to comment, citing pending litigation.
