South Carolina Tax: Spartanburg County Council candidate's tax savings derided

By Jason Spencer, 30 May 2010 -- Spartanburg County is losing thousands of dollars of tax revenue each year because of one County Council candidate's living arrangements, several political observers said last week.

Joe Mahaffey, 70, a former state representative, is running against incumbent Councilman Dale Culbreth in the Republican primary on June 8. There is no Democrat in the Council District 5 race.

Mahaffey filed to run as a resident of 188 Carshalton Drive, a lake house in Lyman. In an interview earlier this year, Mahaffey said he'd lived there for about three years. Friday, he told the Herald-Journal he's lived there since September 2008.

According to tax records, the Carshalton Drive residence is in the name of Mahaffey's wife, Alinda, and daughter, Susan. The Mahaffey residence at 220 Bennetts Bridge Road in Greer -- which is in a different council district -- is in a trust in Joe and Alinda Mahaffey's name. Both are taxed at a 4 percent assessment rate, records show.

The 4 percent rate is typically applied to primary residences, which has raised questions as to where, exactly, the candidate lives. Second homes are taxed at 6 percent.

Deputy County Administrator Jim Hipp said the Mahaffeys have filed all the necessary paperwork and that "there's no indications they have done anything improper at all."

But several sitting council members have said Mahaffey is exploiting the system at the expense of the taxpayers.

"You don't own a mansion and live in a lake house," Councilman O'Neal Mintz said. "What he's doing is shafting the taxpayers out of $16,000 a year. If it's legal for him to do, it's legal for everyone else to do who owns two houses. This thing could get ugly. While it's technically OK ... that's not the kind of county councilman I want on council with me. I want you to be fair and honest. He owes the taxpayers a lot of money."

Mintz admitted that he and Culbreth vote the same way on most issues. But if everyone followed Mahaffey's approach, he said, schools would end up laying off teachers. (Most of the money levied in property taxes goes to schools.)

"I'm not double dipping, if that's what y'all are trying to put out there," Mahaffey said. "I'm fairly paying my taxes, and my daughter's fairly paying her taxes. And if I have to present it legally, then that's what I'll do.

He added: "It's not illegal to do this."

But Mintz and Councilman David Britt said just because something is legal doesn't make it right. Both said they've gotten numerous calls on the matter.

Manning Lynch, past president of the Homebuilders Association of Greater Spartanburg, said members of his group had so many calls that they had to hold a special meeting.

"It may technically be legal what he's doing, but it sure as hell ain't right," Lynch said. "And everybody who has a lake house somewhere would like to be doing the same thing. It's just crazy."

Culbreth, who is finishing his first term, said constituents had approached him about Mahaffey's living situation, but that he doesn't mention his opponent when campaigning or speaking to groups.

"I'm not talking about him, and I ain't gonna start. I'm running on me. I'm not running on him," Culbreth said. "If I've got to say bad things about people to build myself up, then that doesn't say much about me. I want a nice, clean campaign, and that's what I'm doing."

Unlike state House and Senate candidates, people running for county council must only live in the district in which they are running by Election Day, which is in November, said Chris Whitmire with the state Election Commission.

Mahaffey said he swapped houses with his daughter in September 2008, and that his office is still located at the home on Bennetts Bridge Road, where he sometimes works. He said his voter registration, driver's license and vehicle registration are all listed at the Carshalton Drive residence on Lake Lyman.

It's not the first time Mahaffey's residency has surfaced as an issue while campaigning. In 2002, he moved out of the Bennetts Bridge Road home into a Lyman residence to run for state House District 36.

He won and served six years. During that time, the House district was redrawn to include his original residence.

Former Spartanburg County Republican Party Chairman Rick Beltram said he learned Mahaffey's "methods" in 2002 and watched him during the past two election cycles to make sure everything was above board.

After looking into his residency, Beltram saw that Mahaffey's campaign disclosure form accounted for only $200 -- not enough to cover the filing fee, let alone signs and a website -- and contacted the state Ethics Commission. Last month, the commission contacted Mahaffey and had him update his disclosure form. Mahaffey said his campaign was entirely self-funded, except for two $25 donations, so that omissions were an "oversight."

But Britt, who has property in Converse Heights (taxed at 4 percent) and Pauline (taxed at 6 percent), said the county won't overlook Mahaffey "skirting the law."

"You've got to be above reproach, any person putting themselves up to represent the people. The public has to have confidence in you to know you're going to do the right thing, not to look behind your back to see if you've got your fingers crossed," Britt said.

"That's what we've got to do, all across the country -- the right thing, even if it costs you financially. I couldn't go to sleep at night if I was doing the same thing to the people of Spartanburg. Because it's taking money out of the coffers of Spartanburg. ... We've had furloughs, no salary increases for employees, our services cut. Every dime counts."