Port Royal Sound group appoints director
The Port Royal Sound Foundation, headquartered on S.C. 170 at the Chechessee River Bridge in Okatie announced the appointment of Judy Almand as Interim Executive Director pending selection of a permanent executive director to be identified through a national search process to be overseen by Almand under the guidance of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees. In the interim, Almand will assume all the duties of executive director.
Ms. Almand, who is Principal and Owner of Almand Consulting LLC, has been acting as a consultant to the foundation since December 2011, advising the board on strategy, governance, trustee orientation and the formation of its capital campaign.

Reminder that DMV closed for Labor Day
The South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles will be closed on Monday, September 3, in observation of the Labor Day state holiday. Please remember that the days before and after a holiday are often extremely busy at DMV. Customers may want to choose another time to visit their local DMV office or process their transactions online at www.scdmvonline.com.

County transportation sales tax about to expire
The Beaufort County sales tax for road improvements will be fully collected as of September 30. This means the $152M collected will be removed from all purchases Oct 1. It is six months ahead of schedule. “With these funds, the county has been able to complete many extensive projects, even with road impact fees coming in less than originally budgeted due to the downturn in the economy,” according to David Starkey, Beaufort County’s Chief Financial Officer.
Beaufort County residents approved the 1% Transportation Sales Tax in November of 2006. When it was passed there was a stipulation stating the sales tax would expire either six years after it was instated which would be March 31, 2013, OR when all of the funds were used. The monies from the tax have funded several projects over the years including the widening of Highway U.S. 17 in Gardens Corner and Boundary Street improvements, just to name a few.