| Budget Cuts Closing Down National Guard Armories |
| The 4th of July is a time for people in
small towns and rural communities to get together. And their
gathering place is often the local national guard armory because of
its size and location. Budget cuts are forcing the National Guard to close some armories so the state is giving them to the towns and counties. But Governor Mark Sanford doesn't think that's the best use of state property. The National Guard armory in St. Matthews looks abandoned and even sounds like it. It's one of six armories in the state the National Guard has closed because of budget cuts. So the state gave the armory to the town of St. Matthews. It's been an important community gathering spot for fifty years. Town Administrator Dick Whetstone says, "The armory has always, often been rented by various groups for functions, for dinners, for dances. And the county and the town hope to partnership in the big assembly area, which we hope to refurbish." The town also plans to move its police and fire departments from old, cramped quarters into the armory. The motor pool is perfect for the fire department. But Governor Sanford says the state is giving away valuable property owned by the taxpayers. "And I think good accounting and being a good watchdog for the taxpayer would necessitate selling it so that you could then put that money back into the coffers," says Sanford, "as opposed to taxing people to get that money back in the coffer." One of the biggest arguments in favor of the towns and counties is that, decades ago, they donated the land for the armories. So it's only fair that, if the state is going to abandon the armories, the land should go back to the towns and counties." But Sanford says the towns already got an economic benefit from decades of guardsmen coming to town for drills and buying food and gas. According to Sanford, selling the armories would help the towns by generating property taxes. But town officials say the armories would be hard to sell to businesses which would probably have to tear down the building. Sanford says he wants a change in the legislature next year to stop giving away state assets and start selling them. |