SC rep denies budget measure would benefit own business

Rep. Chip Limehouse says he wouldn’t personally benefit from a proviso the Charleston Republican stealthily slipped into the state budget last week, but the city officials most affected by the measure are telling a different story.

Under Limehouse’s proposal, cities must turn over 35% of the money collected through parking fines and fees on state-owned property to the state’s general fund. Charleston officials told The State’s Adam Beam that the proposal would cost their city alone over $1.1 million a year, and would likely force them to increase parking rates.

On Friday, Limehouse angrily denied that the proviso is essentially a tax on city parking services. “That’s not true,” Limehouse told Palmetto Public Record. “It has nothing to do with [city-owned facilities].”

While Limehouse is correct on a semantic level, the proviso clearly takes a big chunk out of city parking revenue. If cities like Charleston are forced to raise their rates to cover the difference, private parking lots can keep theirs the same — undercutting city facilities, attracting more customers and making more money.

Why is this a problem? Limehouse just happens to own a parking company that manages over two dozen private parking lots and garages in Charleston. Pretty convenient, right?

But don’t worry, Limehouse said the proviso wouldn’t financially benefit himself because he doesn’t own the lots and garages that his company manages. So he wouldn’t be making money personally, just making money for his business partners. What could go wrong?

Limehouse called the insinuation that he could benefit from the budget proviso “insulting.” But based on the evidence, it seems the only thing being insulted is the intelligence of the people he asks to believe otherwise.

These aren’t the only allegations of undue influence being leveled at Limehouse. FITSNews reported a few weeks ago that Limehouse’s father, former state Transportation Secretary Buck Limehouse, is “actively campaigning” for a seat on the Medical University of South Carolina’s board of trustees. As chairman of the Ways & Means subcommittee which oversees the MUSC board, Chip Limehouse would have tremendous influence on the seat his father is seeking.

In addition to the familial conflict of interest, Buck Limehouse has worked for the Southern Strategy lobbying group since November. Although he says he’s not actually a lobbyist, sources tell Palmetto Public Record the elder Limehouse maintains a frequent presence in the State House lobby. On top of that, the Southern Strategy Group’s own website lists him among its stable of influence peddlers:

As far as we know, Buck is still seeking the MUSC spot partially controlled by his son. We definitely know Buck is still lobbying at the State House, however, so the “wheel of corruption” mentioned by FITS evidently doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.

A bill currently lounging in a Senate Judiciary subcommittee would put a stop to Limehouse’s influence over matters that directly affect him, or at least bring some more transparency to the process. S. 119 would require officials to excuse themselves from all votes involving a potential conflict of interest, and is scheduled for review later this month by a subcommittee chaired by Sen. Phil Shoopman (R-Greenville) — one of the bill’s sponsors.