Hampton Co. puts new methods in place following audit that showed mismanagement and irresponsibility

HAMPTON COUNTY, S.C. (WTOC) - Hampton County is taking steps to become more financially stable.

A recent mandatory audit for 2025 showed improvement, but it’s still a steep hill to climb.

“We’re pushing a boulder up a hill, and we have a long way to go,” Hampton County Administrator Lavar Youmans said.

It’s better than a state report released last year, which looked at money spent in the county from 2016-2024.

It showed everything from missing funds and documents to countless misuses of county credit cards and revealed a longtime pattern of financial mismanagement and irresponsibility, as well as “waste and abuse.”

Millions of taxpayer dollars wasted.

Financial problems that have already started to be fixed thanks to recommendations from the state.

“The audits have generated a clear direction that we should take,” Youmans said.

New methods that promote accountability, financial stability, and transparency have already seen positive results in the most recent audit.

“I know that we still have a way to go, but going from a deficit to a surplus, to me, I saw that as a great improvement,” Hampton County Council Chairman Roy Hollingsworth said.

The council reviewed the 2025 audit on Tuesday night, while also making another change.

CHANGE IN NUMBER OF CREDIT CARDS:

They voted to adjust the number of credit cards used by the county.

Originally, the county used 29 credit cards before going down to 9.

This created a lot of documents to keep track of, which in some cases were lost and never found.

It also led to purchases that were not approved.

According to the report, some of the county’s credit cards from 2016 to 2024 were used on alcohol, fancy dinners, travel, and shopping.

One card was assigned to the former county administrator, and it was used to make numerous food and drink purchases at restaurants and hotels in Atlanta and Las Vegas.

To go with room service for two people, Uber rides, and excessive tips.

Now, the county is down to just two credit cards, which they believe will make the reconciliation process following the audit easier and add another layer to ensure that the county is managing the credit card process appropriately.

“When you have one credit card being used with this particular entity and another with that entity, it’s easier to follow and easier to maintain,” Hollingsworth said.

The county is hoping to talk about both audits from those eight years sometime in February.

They also plan on holding two open forums for residents to talk about the 2025 county audit and talk about the county’s recreation center project.

Those dates have not been announced.