The Greenville News from Greenville, South Carolina • Page 26

Tuesday, October 6, 1892 3C GRSENV1LUESTATE By Mary Graczyn Npws staff writer CQreenville County school officials recommended Monday how state legislators iCfcn clarify a formula that lets the district leyy, tax increases of up to 4 mills a year. Meanwhile, less than two weeks be-ldr6 tax notices are to be mailed, ques-'tktas linger over whether the district Interpreted the formula correctly. And the Greenville County Taxpayer's Association has asked County Auditor Mary Jane McCarter not to levy a tax hike, contending that the formula wasn't used correctly. The school board approved the tax increase in July to help finance the district's $170 million operating budget. Administrators said they followed the letter and spirit of the law.

Part of the formula, which both sides said is complex, factors in unfunded federal and state mandates in other words programs that are required but not fully funded by those levels of government. State Rep. Lewis Vaughn and Sen. Da vid Thomas have asked whether some state and federal requirements listed as "unfunded" by the district actually are funded. To help clarify this, district chief financial officer Glenn Stiegman presented a way to rephrase the same idea, explaining the mandates as "the amount required to fund new federal and state mandates over and above funds provided from the state or federal government for those mandates." Officials also rewording another section that covers reductions in federal and state funds from the year before.

The new section explains in 12 lines what the first one does in three and is more comprehensive because it considers how variables change from year to year in the formula itself, like fluctuations in enrollment, Stiegman said. The original legislation only looks at a net increase or decrease in state funds, he said. The proposed changes were approved by the school board Finance Committee and will go before the full board before being presented to legislators. Representatives of the Taxpayers Association were invited to attend Monday's meeting but didn't appear, saying in a letter to trustees that the IS minutes, allotted to them was insufficient. The group also sent a letter to Auditor Mary Jane McCarter Monday asking her to verify the legality of the tax increase.

The letter, written by attorney David W. Holmes, also asked her to deny the increase. Mrs. McCarter hadn't seen the letter Monday and said she would speak to the county attorney about the matter. DBIEF3 "Spartanburg man sentenced for fraud A Spartanburg man has been sentenced to prison for defrauding a number of businesses through a bogus wholesale operation, according to Greenville federal court records.

James Miller, 52, of 1514 Fem-wood Glendale Road, pleaded gaHty in July to mail fraud. He was sentenced last week to 30 months in prison and three years (on probation and was ordered to 'receive mental health and alcohol abuse counseling. Miller posed as a minister and obtained $88,285 in merchandise isihce early 1991 from 84 business-Sk an indictment alleged, i i He paid for the goods with "token amounts" of money and bad checks and resold them various flea market vendors, 4jhe indictment charged. Stranded barge -t I Ku 1 1 Sim 1 si i At the tax sale 11 Pat Webb, left, and Andrew Leigh bid on auctioneering skills, presides. The county auc- property Monday during Greenville County's tions houses, land and mobile homes on which annual delinquent property tax sale Monday.

At people owe back taxes. Afterward, they have right, Perry Eichor, a county employee with one year to get it back. dH I Hartnett says he finds new poll heartening Greenville County plans to open new ambulance station tdwed to safety CHARLESTON (AP) A loaded with 246,000 gallons "qf; sulfuric acid that had been Stranded off the South Carolina coast in heavy seas was pulled to 'safety Monday with no damage, 'the Coast Guard said. After seas subsided to 5-foot swells, crews were able to get a tow line on the barge, which was anchored overnight under the watch of a tug and a Coast Guard cutter, Lt. Cmdr.

David Aurand jsaid; jo The barge was towed to Shipyard Creek near Charleston for a safety inspection, the Coast Guard said. After a complete inspection and testing, no damage 'or leakage was found, Lt. j.g. Judy Persall said. The barge was loaded in Balti-fliorfe and was heading toward Savannah, when it broke away from the tug, Gemini, Aurand said.

It now will continue on to Savannah, Persall said. Group endorses ISpence challenger COLUMBIA (AP) A politi-cal activist organization aimed at jousting incumbents in Congress has endorsed Geb Sommer, a Libertarian challenging Rep. Floyd jSpence, in the 2nd Congressional District, A release from The Coalition End the Permanent Congress Isaid it was supporting Sommer jand other challengers who were to real campaign reform." Jack Gargan, founder of i Throw the Hypocritical Rascals iOut, also has endorsed Sommer, jthe release said. I Spence has been in Congress has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points. The Charleston Republican also tried to raise the stakes in the debate wars.

"He's trying to limit the subject matter of these debates," Hartnett said. "I'm not accepting that." The debate scheduled to be broadcast statewide on South Carolina Education Television "is a free-for-all," responded Hollings' campaign spokesman, Andy Brack. "There's more than enough opportunity on Oct. 12 to get out any points that this fellow-wants to get out," Brack said. "We've tried to focus on issues people want to hear about," Brack said.

On Friday in Charleston, Hollings has proposed to discuss crime, environment, education and the economy. On Oct. 17, the senator wants the topics to be jobs, trade and the economy. Hartnett also criticized Hollings for not agreeing to have a debate in the Upstate. Brack said viewers statewide can tune in to the Oct.

12 debate onETV. The Oct. 17 debate at WIS-TV in Columbia will be offered to other stations across the state, a spokesman for the station said. By James T. Hammond News Capital Bureau COLUMBIA Republican challenger Tommy Hartnett sounded a positive note in the wake of a new poll showing incumbent Sen.

Ernest Hollings with a strong lead, saying he is gaining support in his bid to unseat the Democrat. "The senator is getting reliable polling information now and he sees himself sliding downhill as fast as an avalanche," Hartnett said at a Columbia news conference. He noted a narrowing gap between himself and the senator. Fifty-one percent of the voters questioned said they'd vote for Hollings if the election were held now, while 39 percent would vote for Hartnett, according to the telephone survey of 466 registered voters taken for The State newspaper and WIS-TV of Columbia. Hartnett does slightly better when only those most likely to vote are questioned, trailing Hollings 42 percent to 50 percent.

But the margin of error is larger among this group. Although he leads in all parts of the state, Hollings does the worst in the Lowcountry, where he gets 46 percent of the vote to Hart-nett's 43 percent. Both men are from Charleston. The poll, conducted Sept. 26-29, Hartnett Hollings Both candidates lashed out at the other Monday for "distorting" the opponent's record.

Hartnett accused Hollings of trying to "change reality" with his $3 million campaign war chest and steady drum beat of television commercials. Hartnett's campaign spokesman has said they may have as much as $500,000 to spend on advertising in the last month of the campaign. The tone of campaign rhetoric is getting sharper. "I'm not sure whether one of the most powerful men in Washington trying to cling to power is more sad or more pathetic," Hartnett said Monday. "Hollings can not run on his record so he has taken the low road and deliberately distorted my record," Hartnett said.

The 26-year Democratic veteran of the Senate responded in kind. "Just like Harry Truman said, 'I'll agree to quit telling the truth about his record when he'll quit lying about mine'," Hollings said in a press release. Councilman Richard Ashmore, whose district includes the Oneal site, had argued that it would serve several population areas and put another much-needed ambulance in circulation. Councilman Rick Blackwell had pushed a site in his district that he has said was more centrally located and would do more to cut response times for people living well beyond the Greer, area. The council had agreed to stick with the Oneal site, prompting claims from some of its members that council members were too political-minded to choose ambulance sites.

Browning said the new station will be just like others around the county, housing an ambulance for emergency calls, related medical equipment and two paramedics on duty at all times. The employees working in the new station will be experienced; Browning said. "We're putting veterans in there who know the county," he said. The county spent under $6,500 to renovate a building at the Oneal camp for the ambulance station. By Jill Gerber News staff writer After months of wrangling, Greenville County plans to open its latest ambulance station this week at a northern Greenville County spot.

The new station is slated to open late Tuesday or early Wednesday at the county's Oneal road maintenance camp north of Greer. The exact time depends on when the county receives delivery of all the equipment, said Pat Browning, director of county Emergency Medical Services. The ambulance will be the county's 11th. The new station is meant to cut long response times in northern Greenville County. The county has stations in Greer and Travelers Rest, but none in the rest of that area.

"It should go a long way toward reducing response times in the northern end of the county, especially the area immediately surrounding the station," Browning said. The County Council had disputed whether the Oneal camp was the best spot to reduce those response times. isincel971. State, Laidlaw Inc. reach accord on GSX cleanup Chinese agency, five people indicted in textile quota case Columbia, Charleston raise bus rates COLUMBIA (AP) Bus rates in Columbia and Charleston went up by 25 cents Monday, making the cost of a bus ride 75 cents.

South Carolina Electric Gas, which runs the public transportation service, had asked for the increase as well as cuts in service. jThe company wanted to stop running buses earlier in the evening on some routes, trim Saturday arid Sunday service on others and eliminate holiday service. The Public Service Commission allowed the rate increase, refused the changes in service. Under a long-standing contract, runs the bus return for a monopoly on providing power in both cities. The company wants out of the bus business.

Lawyers preparing "for landfill hearing 1 COLUMBIA (AP) Lawyers are preparing for a hearing to decide whether a regional landfill should be built in Lee County, and a citizens' group is expected to argue that a state agency erred in issuing an operating permit. think you'll see a hard-faught battle, not only over 'whether the landfill should be built, but over the size of the laridfill," said Daryl G. Hawkins, an attorney representing the group, Citizens for Lee County. hearing is Oct. 12.

Republic of China. The agency reports directly to the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade, prosecutors said. If convicted, it could be fined $2 million. "They hold themselves out to be a separate corporate entity," said Milton L. Williams assistant U.S.

attorney in charge of the probe. "Because of that, we took the position we could indict that corporate entity just like we can indict any corporate entity in the United States." Williams added that the company clearly "is controlled by the Chinese government." Also indicted was China National's U.S. subsidiary, Chinatex America Inc. of Manhattan, as well as five individuals. If convicted, Chinatex also faces a $2 million fine.

A message left at Chinatex for comment was not returned. A man answering the phone at the Chinese Embassy said no one could immediately be reached for comment. Van Etten said the indictment sends the message that "the U.S. Customs and the Justice Department are serious about commercial fraud." Williams said the government will prove the defendants conspired to bring more Chinese-made clothing into the United States than they were allowed. NEW YORK (AP) A Chinese government agency and five people were charged in a federal indictment Monday of evading quotas set to protect the U.S.

textile and clothing industries. Robert Van Etten, special agent in charge of U.S. Customs in New York, said he could recall no similar instance of an indictment of a foreign government agency. "This is significant. I don't think it's been done before," he said.

The 17-month investigation was touched off in part by complaints from the U.S. textile and clothing industries about nations that ignore U.S. quotas which limit imports. Van Etten said the practices of an unspecified number of other nations also were being examined. Van Etten said China exports nearly $3.9 billion in textiles to the United States annually.

Federal officials believe $2 billion worth more is imported illegally, including textiles made in China but shipped through other countries to avoid quotas. Accused in the indictment was the China National Textiles Import and Export Corp. of Beijing, China. The company was described by the U.S. attorney's office as the Chinese government agency that regulates and controls imports and exports of textiles and wearing apparel involving the People's cades from now, taxpayers might have to foot the bill.

For instance, the average cleanup under the federal Superfund law, which was designed to restore the nation's worst-polluted sites, is $8 million, Berry said. "This takes the taxpayer off the hook," Berry said. GSX is expected to close the hazardous waste landfill after about 12 more years of operation and the trash side after 15 years, Berry said. It is limited to dumping 2,250 acre-feet of hazardous waste a year and acre-feet of trash. Laidlaw actually lays out very little cash, providing instead guarantees on its assets and on fees from dumping at the 279-acre site, Berry said.

Company officials had left their offices by the time DHEC announced the agreement late Monday and could not be reached for comment, a secretary said. Laidlaw will provide $100 million in asset guarantees for any cleanups after the dump closes. The guarantees will be adjusted for inflation so by the time the dump closes there actually may be $120 million, Berry said. GSX and Laidlaw will guarantee $30 million for cleanups while the dump is operating. A $5 million fund from dumping fees will be used for general maintenance; from monitoring wells to cutting grass after closure.

COLUMBIA (AP) State environmental regulators said Monday they reached a precedent-setting $135 million agreement with Laidlaw Inc. of Canada to guarantee cleanup of its GSX hazardous waste landfill. In return for taking responsibility for the landfill for at least 100 years, Laidlaw and GSX will get a five-year operating permit, state health department spokesman Thorn Berry said. GSX dropped its challenge to restrictions proposed on the operating permit, but an appeal by dump opponents will continue, he said. The dump near the shore of Lake Marion in Sumter County has operated for 12 years with an interim permit limiting hazardous waste dumping but with no limits on non-hazardous garbage, Berry said.

The new permit limits how much trash can be dumped. "To my knowledge, this is the largest amount of money to be set aside for environmental protection for a facility of this type in the nation," said R. Lewis Shaw, deputy commissioner of environmental quality at the Department of Health and Environmental Control. As older dumps have closed around the country, regulators have struggled with how to pay for the environmental cleanup needed if they leak. Monitoring is needed for years.

If a problem is discovered de.