Sept. 15, 2015 • Volume 18, Issue 18 • Complimentary • www.blufftonsun.com
INSIDE
• Life on the May 6A
• Walk to End Alzheimer’s 14A
• Red Apron House Party 16A
• Catfish Festival
returns 20A
• See designer
Bra Project 21A
• Bucket list for
retirement 30A
• Memories on
Canvas show 33A
New county treasurer serious about citizens’ money
By Dean Rowland
CONTRIBUTOR
Beaufort County has a message for
property owners in default: “Pay (your
overdue taxes) or forfeit (your property
at public auction).”
Properties that did not sell at last year’s
annual Delinquent Tax Sale were listed
online for the first time late last month
for weeklong bidding. Winning bidders
of the properties, all of which were
owned by the county’s Forfeited Land
Commission, were issued property titles
immediately.
The public has another opportunity
to purchase property online or in person
on Oct. 5 at the county’s annual
Delinquent Tax Sale. Winning bidders
must wait one year and one day during
the exemption period for the original
property owners to pay their back real
estate taxes or else their deeds will
change hands.
Last year, the county collected $22
million from the sale, including back
taxes; the year before that, $40 million.
Money is serious business for the
county, and no one is more serious about
it than county treasurer Maria Walls,
who assumed elected office July 1 after
spending four years as deputy treasurer.
“I want people to feel comfortable that
they have someone representing them
P H OTO B Y D E A N R O W L A N D
Please see TAXES on page 10
County treasurer Maria Walls oversees operations in the treasurer’s office in Beaufort.
New small business acknowledges value of everyone
By Gwyneth J. Saunders
CONTRIBUTOR
After 29 years in corporate America in
Michigan, Laurie Brown had had enough.
The job was good but no longer fulfilling
and, after moving to Bluffton in
September 2014, Brown sought a way to
satisfy the soft spot in her heart for
helping people.
Out of that desire grew Bluffton-based
Aunt Laurie’s, a source of gift baskets for
all occasions. To fill those baskets, she
sought organizations that employed
people with disabilities to produce such
things as lotions, soaps and candles.
With themed gifts for new homeowners to dog lovers to the latest creation
– a Bluffton-focused selection – the baskets were one way Brown could meet her
goal.
“The vision of Aunt Laurie’s is to
inspire people to acknowledge the value
of everyone; every human being has
value. We’d like that to come through the
passion of our efforts,” said Brown. “The
more product I sell, the more people I
help. It’s really important.”
The gift baskets evolved out of conversations with her SCORE small business
Please see BASKETS on page 12A
Page 10A
The Bluffton Sun
Sept. 15, 2015
TAXES from page 1A
here every day,” said Walls, who lives in
Bluffton with her family. “It’s not just me.
I have a staff (24 full time) that represents
them every day.”
After the embezzlement scandal that
rocked the office in 2011 before Doug
Henderson became treasurer through a
grassroots petition campaign, there was
much work to do to restore public faith
and trust in the department.
Henderson appointed Walls as his
deputy treasurer.
“We needed to bring credibility back
to this office,” she said. The first move
she and her boss made was to install an
internal control procedure that made all
departments and staffers accountable for
every monetary transaction processed,
documented and verified, with checks
and balances in place.
“As an auditor and CPA, when I
looked at the county’s financial statements and saw that we had internal control comments (from auditors) and deficiencies numerous years in a row, that
alone was terrible,” said Walls, a New
Jersey native with degrees from Rider
University in her home state. “So, to me,
considering my background, that was
not acceptable, so I set a goal for myself
that we wouldn’t have any control comments our first year.” She succeeded.
“We were both very proud of what we
accomplished in four years,” said Walls,
who moved to the Lowcountry eight
years ago.
Among other initiatives she implemented as deputy treasurer was updating
money flow procedures by replacing
antiquated carbon copy receipts with an
electronic “data flow chart” from every
county department that handles money.
She also reduced internal expenditures by sending confirmation receipts
online instead of by mail, saving $60,000
last year. Overall, she reduced department expenditures by 24 percent during
her tenure.
The first official action Walls took
when assuming office in July was to
update her department’s website to make
it more viewer-friendly for the public.
“What we are doing is to make it
easier for our citizens to learn information about our office,” Walls said.
As county treasurer, Walls has
retained the initiatives she implemented
as deputy to enhance accountability and
efficiency, and will roll out new agenda
items in the future. Among them are to:
• increase tax payment options
• reorganize the Bluffton office for
public convenience and set up payment
kiosks
• change the electronic check processing procedure and eliminate credit
card convenience fees assessed to the
county by credit lenders.
Walls’ mantra over the past four years
– and now – is simple: “We learn, we
implement and we get it done.”
Dean Rowland is a veteran senior editor
and freelance writer living in Bluffton.
SEE BEAUFORT COUNTY
DELIQUENT TAX SALE
LISTINGS INSIDE
Inside this edition of The
Bluffton Sun, you will find a special 12-page pull-out section that
lists more than 1,100 Beaufort
County properties that will be sold
at auction Oct. 5, if the delinquent
taxes are not paid in full by 5 p.m.
Oct. 2.
The sale will take place at 10
a.m. Oct. 5 at the Charles Lind
Brown Activities Center, 1001
Hamar St. in Beaufort.
If you think you might owe
property taxes on your holdings,
check the listings carefully.
Anyone interested in bidding on
delinquent properties may register
at www.bcgov.net by Oct. 2.