Myrtle Beach A member of the Horry County Council wants Chairman Chad Prosser to resign because he's too busy working as Gov. Mark Sanford's choice to lead the state Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.

Prosser says he won't resign from the chairman post until he is confirmed by the state Senate because he wants to provide the County Council a smooth transition.

Prosser has been speaking at tourism conferences, traveling around the state to meet officials and working to balance the PRT's budget since Sanford tapped him for the job in January.

He has even received his first paycheck from the state based on an $82,079 annual salary.

But the Senate can't start work on Prosser's confirmation until he submits paperwork, including disclosure forms and letters of recommendation, to the governor's office.

Prosser said he has been busy.

"I've been consumed with the budget," Prosser said. "Just Tuesday, we had a reduction in force of 10 permanent employees," he said. "It's been a lot to walk into."

But county Councilwoman Liz Gilland said Horry County also is dealing with a budget crunch and needs a leader.

"We are in limbo because we essentially have no chairman," Gilland. "Prosser is in Columbia doing his job up there, and he's not doing the work of running Horry County, which takes by his own admission a good amount of time."

Gilland wants Prosser to resign so vice chairman Terry Cooper can assume the role as acting chairman and begin pulling the council together on the budget.

Prosser said his absence is not affecting the budget process because much of the work is in the committee phase.

County attorney John Weaver said the county has no problem with Prosser fulfilling his PRT duties or receiving state pay.

"He's doing the work as director designate. It seems appropriate that he'd be paid for that work," Weaver said.

Prosser this week asked the county to end his county pay, which was an annual salary of $25,750. He last received a county paycheck Feb. 27.