An attempt is expected to be made today to deny final approval of a $7 million state grant for an international trade center in Myrtle Beach.

The item is on the agenda for the Budget and Control Board, along with $7 million each for a similar facility in Greenville and a culinary school in Charleston.

The budget board's spokesman would not say who would ask for the delay or whether it was connected with a letter from Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride to Gov. Mark Sanford.

In the letter, McBride says the city has no plans for a trade center and no local money to pay for it. The city is lying to the state, McBride said.

Sanford's spokesman, Joel Sawyer, said the governor questions all three projects because there is no requirement for them to create a certain number of new jobs or revenue.

Sanford vetoed both bills that allocated the money, but legislators overrode the vetoes.

"The governor's concerns remain the same," Sawyer said. But he would not say whether Sanford would move to kill the allocations.

State Rep. Dan Cooper, R-Piedmont, a member of the budget board, said he expects the projects to pass 3-2, with Sanford and Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom opposed. Eckstrom usually votes with Sanford.

"I think they're good economic-development projects for the state," Cooper said.

He said Sanford wants to boost tourism, so it makes no sense to oppose a trade center that would bring in new tourists.

"That's one of those inconsistencies he never seems to get tagged with," Cooper said.

McBride wrote Sanford about an ordinance City Council passed last week notifying the budget board of its intention to expand the city's convention center to allow for the trade center, at a cost of about $85.1 million. The $7 million is needed to start the project.

The ordinance passed 6-1, with McBride against. He then refused to sign the ordinance, he said, so the other members had Mayor Pro Tem Judy Rodman sign it.

McBride said he is not opposed to the trade center.

"The concept is great," but the city has no planned stream of money to pay for it, he said.

The city doesn't have to have detailed plans at this stage, city spokesman Mark Kruea said. It would not make sense to pay for plans before getting the money to start the project, he said.

"City Council approved the ordinance 6-1. Council's will is expressed through its vote. The mayor is a dissenting voice," Kruea said.

Myrtle Beach received the money last year in a bill that was later ruled unconstitutional because it included too many items that had not received full consideration by lawmakers.

In the legislative session earlier this year, a revised bill was passed that included the $7 million again.

The money is to come from a bond issue, and last month the Joint Bond Review Committee approved the funds, along with those for the Greenville and Charleston facilities.

Until then, Myrtle Beach thought it was in competition with Greenville for the money. But state Sen. Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, said there was enough for all three projects.