Posts Tagged ‘SCRA’
SCRA’s ‘No Tax Dollars’ Routine Doesn’t Pass Smell Test
The State newspaper has a story in today’s edition about a groundbreaking ceremony for the South Carolina Research Authority-USC Innovation Center.
The Columbia innovation center is one of three such sites SCRA is building.
In the article’s last line, SCRA Chief Executive Bill Mahoney is quoted as saying: “No taxpayer money will be used to build the state incubators.”
Beyond the fact that in the 1980s the General Assembly gave SCRA $500K and approximately 1,400 acres of undeveloped state land – property the entity has sold off for many, many millions of dollars over the years - a simple glance at the artwork accompanying The State’s story indicates that at least some tax dollars are almost certainly going toward the SCRA-USC Innovation Center.
The rendering shows that underneath the SCRA moniker is the logo for the University of South Carolina. And, according to the FY 2009-10 budget, USC was allocated more than $900 million in total funding, including more than $140 million from the state’s General Fund.
So unless USC is allowing its name and logo to be used free of charge by SCRA (which seems implausible given the manner in which the school jealously guards its brand), one can reasonably assume that, contrary to Mr. Mahoney’s assertion, there are indeed tax dollars being used at the Columbia innovation center.
