by Don Moniak

November 1, 2022.

When Ed Woltz defeated incumbent Aiken City Councilman Philip Merry in the 2017 Republican Primary, one factor influencing voter minds was Merry’s chronic appearance on local delinquent tax sale listings. Although Merry never defaulted on his property tax obligations, his payments were late enough to earn listings of his investment and development properties from 2014 to 2016. 

On November 29, 2021, just four weeks after being reelected to City Council in an uncontested race, Edward Woltz was issued a citation for an unspecified business license violation. According to court records, the violation warranted a fine of $1092. The summons from city business license manager Andrew Ridout merely cited the ordinance violated, but provided fewer details than that found in the average traffic ticket. The city has been relunctant to provide information on the case. (1)

The records that are available reveal that:  

• The case  lingered in the municipal court system for nine months, with one at least one jury trial postponed. 
• Assessments and levying of interest and penalties on business license taxes and fees from 2017 to 2021 for rental properties are under dispute (since Sutton Marine, which is owned by Ed Woltz, has a business license, it appears the issue is limited to rental properties).
• The manner in which business license taxes for rental properties is levied is under dispute. 
• The business license tax levied against Woltz by the City of Aiken is alleged to have included properties outside of the the city’s jurisdiction. 
• After the case was dismissed from municipal court, an appeal was filed to Aiken City Council on September 15, 2022; and the status of that case is unknown.

Aiken’s Business License Ordinance: A Privilege Tax. 

Business license taxes are a major revenue source for most municipalities and some counties. In its Business License Handbook, The Municipal Assocation of South Carolina describes it as 

“An excise tax levied on the privilege of doing business within a municipality or a county. The value of the privilege extended is measured by the business gross revenue or receipts of the licensee.” 

Approximately one-third of the City of Aiken’s General Fund revenues derive from its business license ordinance, collected from more than 4,600 business license holders.

The city’s business license ordinance requires anybody conducting any kind of business within the city to obtain a business license and pay an annual license tax. Key provisions of the ordinance include: 

• Section 12-31: “License Required. Every person engaged or intending to engage in any business, calling, occupation, profession, or activity engaged in with the object of gain, benefit, or advantage, in whole or in part within the limits of the City of Aiken, South Carolina, is required to pay an annual license tax for the privilege of doing business and obtain a business license as herein provided.”
• Appendix A lists the base rate by business class and the variable percentages of gross incomes paid for income over $2,000 per year. 
• Section 12-33 describes the purpose of the ordinance as “raising revenue for the general fund through a privilege tax.” 
• Section 12-40 authorizes business license officials “to enter upon the premises of any person subject to this ordinance to make inspections and to examine and audit books and records” and cite businesses for any noncompliance. 
• Section 12-46 states that grievances of licensing decisions can be appealed to City Council within ten days of any “determination, denial, suspension, or proposed revocation of a business license,” and a hearing must be held within 10 days. 
• Section 12-49 states that violators of “any provision of this ordinance” are subject “to a fine of up to $500.00 or imprisonment for not more than thirty (30) days or both, upon conviction,” with each day of violation considered a separate offense. 

Aiken’s business license ordinance was amended in early 2021 to align with the requirements of the South Carolina Business License Tax Standardization Act of 2020. The act sought to avoid businesses operating in multiple jurisdictions from having to comply with variable business license rules. The Municipal Association of South Carolina and the state’s Chamber of Commerce worked to provide a model ordinance that complies with the new state law.

Although it passed unanimously and with minimal discussion during the first reading on February 22, 2021, the second reading on March 22, 2021, involved more discussion regarding the complexity of the ordinance. After Mayor Rick Osbon described spending two days with “the lawyers who wrote it,” he and Ed Woltz had the following exchange:

Ed Woltz: “If it took two days to understand it…” 

Rick Osbon: “It took the lawyers who wrote it two days to explain it to me and  maybe they just didn’t have a good person to explain to I don’t know.” 

Council then approved the amended ordinance by a vote of 6-1; with Ed Woltz casting the lone dissenting vote, stating: 

“Because I can’t understand it yet I don’t want to pass that.” 

Timeline for the Ed Woltz Business Tax Citation

November 29, 2021: Summons is issued to Edward Woltz for violation of Business License Ordinance. The case of South Carolina vs Edward Kibbey Woltz was classified as criminal and assigned to Aiken Municipal Court. 

December 9, 2021:  Woltz’s lawyer, Clark McCants III, of the law firm Nance and McCants, requested a jury trial and filed Rule 5 and Brady motions for the city to produce evidence against his client. 

May 3, 2022:  City paralegal Pilar Beedle requested a list of jurors from Municipal Clerk of Court Fernandina Corley in order to conduct background checks for a scheduled July 15th jury trial.

July 7, 2022: City Solicitor Laura Jordan wrote to McCants: 

“Attached is supplemental Rule 5 materials pertaining to Mr. Woltz’s case. The paper jury strike is scheduled for July 15th. If you would like a list of the jurors prior to the paper strike, you can contact our clerk of court.” 

July 15, 2022: McCants submitted questions for the jury and the jury trial was rescheduled for 8:00 a.m.; August, 18, 2022. 

July 20, 2022: City Solicitor Jordan wrote to Clark McCants IV: 

“I also wanted to follow up in writing what we discussed regarding the offer. If Mr. Woltz has gained compliance by paying his business license fees, and penalties for the three year lookback period, by the close of business on August 4th, then the City will dismiss the ordinance violation.” 

July 24, 2022:  City SolicitorJordan wrote to Clark McCants III that the jury trial would begin at 2 p.m. on August 18, 2022 and resume the morning of the 19th. 

August 18, 2022: The jury trial was cancelled. 

August 29, 2022. City Solicitor Jordan sent a request to “place this case on the docket for dismissal either on 8/31 or 9/1,” and it was placed on the docket for September 1, 2022.  (Ms. Jordan has confirmed the case was dismissed but has not provided a date, documention, or any conditions for the dismissal. )

September 8, 2022: City of Aiken sent a notice of assessment and demand for payment for the years 2017-2021  (Details are unavailable).

September 15, 2022. Clark McCants III filed an appeal with Aiken City Council on behalf of Edward K Woltz, Holly H. Woltz, and S&C Properties, LLC regarding the “assessments of and levy upon them of those business license taxes and fees, as well as the interest and penalties thereon.” The defenses offered included: 

• The statute of limitations has expired for certain years. 
• Section 12-31 is “unconstitutional and void and unenforceable as a matter of law due to their vagueness and lack of guidance to citizens and owners of real property who choose to lease or rent such properties” because city code does not contain business license provisions for leasing and renting property. 
• An unequal application of city code, with the city excluding “from application and enforcement owners of real properties who…do not rent more than two such properties.”
• “The calculation of and determination of the amount of business license taxes and fees, as well as interest and penalties, assessed and levied by [the city]…are based partly upon revenue received…for the rental of real properties located outside the jurisdictional limits of the City of Aiken.” 

County records show that Ed and Holly Woltz collectively own sixteen properties in Aiken County and Ed Woltz owns three additional properties, one of them being the sole property listed under S&C Properties, LLC. Of the nineteen properties (3) , seven are in unincorporated areas of Aiken County frequently referred to as “donut holes.”  Woltz routinely recuses himself from Council decisions regarding neighborhoods where he owns property.

October 28, 2022: The following email was sent to City Manager Stuart Bedenbaugh: 

“Can you tell me the status of the 9/16/22 appeal filed by McCants on behalf of Edward Woltz et al.? 

Will this he heard in another jurisdiction ?” 

There has been no response to date.

Conclusion

For nearly a year Aiken City Council member Ed Woltz was charged with violating the city’s business license Ordinance—a criminal offense—and is alleged to owe upwards of four years of business license taxes for his rental properties. Woltz contested the charges and continues to contest the tax assessement—to the same City Council upon which he serves.  Since his defense lawyers contend the assessment is unfair and unconstitutional, the case has implications for every landlord in the City of Aiken.

Yet, this public matter is being handled more like a private affair, with city officials refusing to provide details or clarification of the case‘s status. 

The case also raises the question of how a City Councilman—and former Planning Commission Chairman—who routinely voted to approve annexations, and efforts to strengthen the annexation ordinance, has managed to evade annexation of his own rental properties within some of the city’s oldest and most prominent “donut holes.”

______________

FOOTNOTES: 

(1) Case record information was removed from the Public Index (below) sometime in September. On September 21st a request for records at the Municipal Clerk of Court records office was met with unexpected resistance. I was told that copies would cost $1 per page and that “nobody had ever requested” files like these before. I was asked to submit a request in writing. After five days of unresponsiveness from the Clerk of Municipal Court’s office, City Solicitor Laura Jordan informed me a Freedom of Information Act request was required. 

(2) FOIA Request 261-2022 was filed on September 26, 2022:

“A copy of all court filings related to Municipal Court case ORD 5931. See attachments. This information was requested on Wednesday, September 21 at the Municipal Court records desk. No information was forthcoming and no followup calls occurred. In an email from City Solicitor Laura Jordan, I was informed the FOIA tracking date for this request will be back dated to September 21st.” 

The 30-page response to this simple request was completed on October 26, 2022 and can be viewed at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1orjlOMTrqI83KwNzxJ4_lNpapblx3OA8/view?usp=sharing

(3) Listing of properties in Aiken County owned by Ed Woltz, from the The Aiken County Assessor’s Office and IT/GeoServices Division.

Fifteen of the parcels listed are rental properties. Three of the properties are commercial rentals, with two of these having multiple tenants. The two properties in the 200 block of Park Avenue, SE are in the Parkway District, and were purchased in June 2021. In Augusta 2021, Aiken City Council unanimously approved a $9.6 million municipal bond issuance for the Aiken Municipal Development Commission (AMDC) to purchase unspecified properties in the Parkway District.

City or County	Parcel ID	Property Address
City	122-09-08-013	201 E PINE LOG RD
County	105-20-06-002	847 WESTOVER DR SE
City	122-09-01-002	143 E PINE LOG RD
City	121-10-02-005	140 WILLIAMSBURG ST SE
County	105-20-06-003	WESTOVER DR SE
County	105-20-06-004	841 WESTOVER DR SE
City	105-20-07-001	1322 WISKEY RD
County	106-07-20-001	1115 WILLIAMS DR
City	106-12-11-014	223 SILVER BLUFF RD
County	106-12-12-001	303 SILVER BLUFF RD
County	106-12-20-006	228 SILVER BLUFF RD
City	121-10-02-003	914 PARK AVE SE
City	121-10-02-004	908 PARK AVE SE
City	121-17-02-004	925 MAGNOLIA ST SE
City	121-29-03-001	206 PARK AVE SE
City	121-30-01-005	210-220 PARK AVE SE
City	121-09-22-011	524 YORK ST SE
County	105-20-06-001	1302 WHISKEY RD1306 WHISKEY RD1308 WHISKEY RD1310 WHISKEY RD

The sole property listed under S&C Properties, LLC is 087-15-02-003,
APT PARCEL 2500 AIKEN MED CENTER, 410 University Parkway.