BENNETTSVILLE — The City Council voted to approve the first reading of the proposed 2026–2027 municipal budget Tuesday night following extensive discussion on staffing for the Bennettsville Police Department (BPD), sanitation services, and potential avenues for revenue generation for the city.
Budget surveys
City Administrator William Simon said he was pleased to note an increase in public engagement, as evidenced by an impressive 250 returned responses from budget surveys recently sent out by the council.
“We do want to thank our citizens for participating with the budget survey — we had over 250 people participate — I feel like we did move the needle from last year, where we did that same survey and we had about 50 participants,” Simon said.
Mayor Pro Tem William Jennings Jr. added survey feedback was largely positive and constructive.
“The comments that we received throughout were very supportive, very sincere. They were all helpful, positive. I learned a lot from it,” Jennings shared.
Councilwoman Caraline Harpe inquired of Simon if there are plans to release the results from the survey to the public, maybe in the form of a graph or summary.
Simon answered, “No, but if that is something that you want to do, we certainly can do that,” adding the caveat that, “We would also want [to include] a memo sort of clarifying responses and clarifying our stance on responses. And that just protects the city in case of those responses that may be negative and may not be accurate.”
Budget cuts and the BPD staffing needs
Attempting to address budget concerns, council discussed the removal of two currently vacant positions from the budget for the BPD, as well as charging for the picking up of bulk sanitation items, and a potentially wide-ranging 5% increase in fees and fines.
Councilman Cy’Heim McRae shared with council that the Marlboro County Council recently entertained Don Strickland with the Pee Dee Regional Transportation Authority (PDRTA) who reported a 28% increase in ridership.
“They (PDRTA) are in dire need of funding. Even though they get millions of dollars, if we can’t support it as a county — they are going to really cut our services — and they got a bus that goes from here to Cheraw,” said McRae, adding that many Marlboro County residents work in Cheraw and utilize the public transit system to get to and from their places of employment.
He continued, “My vote on this budget is contingent upon what I believe is in the best interest of District 5. I don’t think cutting two police officers nor brown goods (bulk and brown-goods sanitation pick up service) would do that.”
When pressed by Harpe on areas where McRae is willing to cut from the budget, and for specific examples, McRae answered, “Maybe from donations. Maybe from that extra money that we allocated for the Humane Society, maybe we should hold off on that.”
Councilwoman Harpe reminded council the Humane Society isn’t a donation, despite its designation in the budget as a donation, because the organization provides a direct service to residents.
A suggestion proposed by Councilman McRae is for residents to pay a $5 monthly flat sanitation fee that would ultimately generate approximately $330,000 annually for the city.
Jennings expressed a need for the council to regulate its sanitation service.
“I mean, brown goods, if you’re charging to pick it up, we’ll have half an automobile back there before you know it — they pile things up now and every day, it’s not just in one district it in all the districts somewhere,” Jennings said.
Interjecting, Administrator Simon suggested the council might be going backwards in discussions, reminding members the budget is always a compromise.
“At the end of the day none of you are going to get everything you want on the budget,” Simon said, adding if the council wishes to pursue a flat fee of $5 to be added to the current $24 fee for trash pickup service, they can hold a formal vote on the matter after advertising the move to the residents of Bennettsville.
He also informed council that aside from the BPD, other departments have vacant positions such as in utilities, wastewater, and water. Simon also shared his concern council appears to be leaning towards cutting services that would greatly impact residents, rather than vacant positions within departments that have been operating at a staff deficit for years. Simon cautioned that a fee increase may face public resistance but emphasized his belief cutting services could have a broader impact on residents.
Councilwoman Harpe said she felt the city’s utility needs are only continuing to grow.
In addition to a flat sanitation fee, council also discussed a potential 5% increase across the board in fees and fines.
Chief Sammy Crosland’s weighs in
Significant council discussion focused on whether to eliminate two vacant police officer positions from the BPD to help balance the budget. The BPD currently has 26 filled positions: 22 sworn officers and four newly hired uncertified officers.
Council members voiced concerns about officer workloads, recruitment challenges, and public safety needs versus impacts to cuts in utility services.
Chief Crosland shared with council part of the reason the department is struggling to fill positions is the rate of pay offered by the city when compared with neighboring areas such as Florence or in City of Bessemer — the discrepancy is about $4 an hour. He also pointed out that while the department has operated for years at a staffing deficit, it has meant long hours and overtime for its existing officers — taking its toll on officers already working in intense, often emotionally charged environments.
“I understand we have to do cuts across the city, I mean, but as a leader, I have to stand firm and voice my opinion,” Crosland said.
He added his belief that the cadets hired now will most likely be the best part of the city for years to come because they are being trained right — sharing that he started out as an uncertified officer someone once gave a chance.
Councilman Gregory Scott Sr. suggested waiting until next year to potentially add four officers to the BPD force in next year’s budget.
Disagreeing, Councilwoman Wanda Weaver pointed out that too often “next year” never comes.
She said, “My thought is the two positions need to stay with the police department. They have already had four positions taken away that were promised back — and now we are talking about taking two more positions from them. Mr. Scott says, well, they can get them back maybe next year — next year never comes.”
Responding to Weaver, Simon said the four positions previously taken away from the BPD were never promised to return. He explained cutting the vacant positions from the budget for the BPD paved the way to hire a grant coordinator and two more positions with the electric department.
“Just looking out for the city, we did not promise those positions back,” Simon clarified, adding, “We know our revenues are going in the right direction. We know we are just getting past some projects that we were spending because of the remnants of what has happened in the past. We could be adding three positions to the police department next year if its budgeted and funded.”
Councilman McRae said he was not in favor of cutting positions and relying on promises to add positions to the budget next year because he pointed out the Bennettsville Fire Department is facing staffing shortages he believes will also need to be addressed in next year’s budget.
Conclusion
“Everything you have asked for is in this balanced budget. Of course, it includes 26 officers and not 28, but you can always change that. But 80-85% of the budget, all of you have agreed on it. You have gone through it line by line on multiple occasions. We talked specific about revenues, talked specifically about donations, and a whole host of other things,” Simon summarized.
Councilman McRae made a motion to pass the first reading of the 2026-2027 fiscal year budget, seconded by Councilman Scott.
Council unanimously approved the budget’s first reading as presented.
Following an inquiry made by Councilman McRae, council discussed posting a draft budget for public review. Council’s approval of the first reading keeps the city on track to pass the budget by the end of April.