Sanford's budget proposal cuts $15.6 million from Clemson's public services activities, which include its local leadership programs and money for county extension offices.
In Bluffton, participants in the 12-session leadership program learn about local government, economic development, the environment, education, health and the media.
The leadership program has served about 150 people and is beginning its seventh year, Clemson Extension Agent Bob Guinn said. Participants do public service work as part of the program, and many continue to be active in the community long after the course has finished.
Members of last year's class in Bluffton collected data that helped the town request national scenic highway designation for S.C. 46. and wrote monthly articles on how to get involved in the community for Bluffton Breeze magazine.
"The reason I'm active in Bluffton right now is because of the leadership program," said Judith Hughes, chairwoman of the town's Hospitality Tax Committee and secretary for the Bluffton Historical Preservation Society.
Her husband, Larry, the society's treasurer, also took the course.
Karen Heitman, president and founder of a bicycle advocacy group, said the course "gave me the confidence to reach out to the community and start Greater Bluffton Pathways." The group's treasurer is another program graduate, she said.
Guinn said he hoped the course would continue, even if his position is cut. The program is nearly self-sustaining with tuition of $225 for each participant. The state money it receives goes toward Guinn's salary.
He said he was trying to organize volunteer advisory boards made up of program graduates to run the courses in Bluffton, Beaufort and Jasper County.
The Leadership Hilton Head-Bluffton program, offered by the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce, is run by a volunteer board.