(123rf.com Image)

Delinquent taxpayers whose debts were listed on the South Carolina Department of Revenue’s Top Delinquent Taxpayers lists paid the state more than $10.6 million in 2024, SCDOR officials said. 

Since the SCDOR launched the Top Delinquent Taxpayers lists in 2020, delinquent taxpayers whose debts were published on the lists have paid more than $48 million in past due taxes.

The SCDOR’s Top Delinquent Taxpayers lists include both the state's top individual and business delinquent taxpayers.

The SCDOR publicly lists the names to provide transparency, fairness, and accountability. 

Individual delinquent taxpayers on the lists currently owe a total of $70.5 million in state taxes. Delinquent business taxpayers on the list owe a total of $35 million. 

Each taxpayer on the Top Delinquent Taxpayers lists is in tax lien status, making these debts public.

Top 5 counties with the most individual tax debt:

Horry - $8 million

Charleston - $6.9 million

Greenville - $5.7 million

Lexington - $4 million

Spartanburg - $3.9 million.

Individual tax debt by region:

Lowcountry - $16.3 million

Upstate - $12.6 million

Pee Dee - $12.1 million

Midlands - $10.3 million.

The largest individual tax debt listed is $3.12 million, while the largest business tax debt totals more than $985,000.

Fourteen individual taxpayers on the list owe the state more than $1 million.

Payments

In 2024, those on the Top Delinquent Taxpayers Lists paid approximately $10.62 million to the SCDOR, including $9.24 million in lien payments and $1.38 million in payment plan payments.

Delinquent business taxpayers paid  approximately $8 million, while individual delinquent taxpayers paid approximately $2.6 million.

Taxpayers are excluded from the SCDOR’s Top Delinquent Taxpayers lists if they… 

Have filed for bankruptcy protection.

Have a payment plan arrangement with the SCDOR.

Are in the GEAR or Setoff Debt programs.

Officials said the SCDOR’s Top Delinquent Taxpayers lists are updated quarterly, so the current amount of tax, penalty, and interest due may differ from the listed amount because of partial payments or accrual of additional penalty and interest.

Before names are published, the SCDOR exhausts efforts to collect these debts and help these taxpayers comply, the officials said.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson joined 26 states and the Arizona Legislature in filing a friend-of-the-court brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Wolford v. Lopez, a major Second Amendment case out of Hawaii.

The brief, led by Montana and Idaho, asks the Court to overturn a Ninth Circuit ruling that Wilson said severely limits law-abiding citizens’ right to carry firearms in public spaces. 

“This case is about ensuring the Second Amendment is not treated as a second-class right,” Wilson said. “If left in place, Hawaii’s law sets a dangerous precedent by flipping the burden, presuming carrying a firearm in public is unlawful unless expressly allowed. That directly contradicts our Constitution and threatens to eliminate the public’s right to self-defense in everyday places.”

At issue is Hawaii’s Act 52, which broadly prohibits public carry of firearms in so-called “sensitive places,” including parks, beaches, and restaurants serving alcohol. It also bans carrying on private property that is open to the public unless the property owner gives explicit permission. 

The amicus brief argues that:

* The Ninth Circuit’s decision creates a direct split with the Second Circuit, which struck down a nearly identical New York law as unconstitutional. 

* Hawaii’s law is not supported by a historical tradition of firearms regulation as required under N.Y. State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen (2022). 

* The state’s sweeping restrictions go far beyond what the Founders would have recognized and attempt to sidestep the constitutional right to carry by redefining vast public areas as “sensitive places.” 

“The Constitution guarantees that law-abiding Americans have the right to protect themselves,” Wilson said. “We cannot allow activist courts or overreaching legislatures to strip away those rights through creative legal maneuvers. This case is an opportunity for the Supreme Court to set the record straight.” 

The coalition urges the Court to grant certiorari and reverse the Ninth Circuit, reinforcing the principle that the Second Amendment protects the right to carry a firearm in public for lawful self-defense. 

A copy of the amicus brief is available here.

The University of South Carolina system will welcome thousands of new alumni in a series of four commencement ceremonies recognizing bachelor’s, master’s and professional degree recipients beginning Friday, May 9, at the Colonial Life Arena in Columbia.

USC President Michael Amiridis will deliver remarks at all four ceremonies. 

Separate ceremonies also will be held for the Joseph F. Rice School of Law, two Schools of Medicine and doctoral graduates.

The four ceremonies at the Colonial Life Arena include:

* On Friday, May 9, at 9 a.m., degrees will be conferred on students from the School of Music and Darla Moore School of Business. Lindell A. Bradley will receive an honorary Doctorate in Public Service.

Bradley made history as the first Black varsity student-athlete at the University of South Carolina, joining the varsity baseball team in the 1968-69 season, and then built a successful career as an engineer and executive manager at ExxonMobil Corporation.

* On Friday, May 9, at 3 p.m., degrees will be conferred on students from the College of Nursing; Arnold School of Public Health; College of Social Work; College of Information and Communications; and College of Pharmacy.

Margaret M. Spellings will receive an honorary Doctorate in Public Service. During her career, Spellings served as U.S. Secretary of Education from 2005 to 2009 and as president of the University of North Carolina system from 2016 to 2019. Spellings is currently president and CEO of the Bipartisan Policy Center, a nonprofit that assists policymakers in crafting bipartisan solutions to range of national issues.

* On Saturday, May 10, at 11 a.m., degrees will be conferred to students from the SC Honors College and the McCausland College of Arts and Sciences.

Drew Gilpin Faust, a noted American historian who served as president of Harvard University from 2007 to 2018, will receive an honorary Doctorate in Education.

Faust is the author of seven acclaimed books exploring the history of the American South and is the recipient of numerous national awards for her contributions to the humanities, including the 2024 Newberry Library Award.

* On Saturday, May 10, at 4 p.m., degrees will be conferred to students from Palmetto College; the Molinaroli College of Engineering and Computing; the College of Hospitality, Retail, and Sport Management; the College of Education; and the Joseph F. Rice School of Law graduate programs (master’s in study of law, certificate of graduate study).

Additional Columbia campus commencement events include:

* The Joseph F. Rice School of Law commencement ceremony will be at 8:30 a.m.; Saturday, May 10 on the historic Horseshoe.

USC alumnae and South Carolina U.S. District Judge Sherri Allen Lydon will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. Lydon began her legal career with the Nexsen Pruet firm, now Maynard Nexsen, in Columbia and previously served as U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina. 

* The commencement ceremony for both the Columbia and Greenville Schools of Medicine will take place at noon on Friday, May 9; at the Koger Center for the Arts in Columbia.

Dr. Jonathan Lee Gleason will deliver a commencement address. Gleason serves as executive vice president and chief clinical officer at Prisma Health. 

* The doctoral hooding ceremony will be at 9 a.m., Thursday, May 8 at the Koger Center for the Arts.

Other system commencements include:

USC Salkehatchie: 10:30 a.m. Friday, May 2. 

USC Beaufort: 5:30 p.m. Friday, May 2. Distinguished surgeon Dr. Holton Tim Pearce will receive an honorary Doctorate in Public Service. 

USC Lancaster: 11 a.m., Saturday, May 3.

USC Union: 4 p.m. Saturday, May 3.

USC Sumter: 10 a.m., Wednesday, May 7.

USC Aiken: 6 p.m. Monday, May 7. 

USC Upstate: 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 8. William Cobb will receive an honorary Doctorate in Public Administration.

Overall, more than 8,300 students will graduate from the University of South Carolina system. South Carolina graduates by the numbers:

Columbia – 6,623

Aiken – 404

Beaufort – 310

Upstate– 530

Lancaster– 193

Salkehatchie– 104

Sumter– 132

Union– 89.

For more information, including parking details, go to the university’s commencement website.  

AnMed Piedmont will open for service at 9 a.m. May 12 to provide 24-hour emergency care off Interstate 85 at Exit 35.

The Emergency Department is the first wing to open on the campus that will ultimately encompass about 55,000 square feet of space for patient care at the corner of state Highway 86 and Old Williamston Road, at 2110 Highway 86 in Piedmont.

Officials said it’s been designed to optimize care, minimize time and maximize the latest technology, with laboratory and imaging services on site.

Substations to provide local bases of operations for EMS and law enforcement are on schedule to open in July, and that will further expedite emergency response, the officials said.

Medical office space at AnMed Piedmont is on schedule to open July 14, with family medicine, pediatrics, physical therapy, orthopedics and sports medicine, and other specialty practices in operation.

“Piedmont is growing – our entire region is growing – and we're called to serve the needs of our community,” said AnMed CEO William Kenley. “For too long residents have had to travel for the care they need. This health care campus plants services where they’re needed, with highly skilled and expertly trained physicians who are part of this community.”

The campus represents an investment of more than $50 million, made possible by funding from the independent, not-for-profit AnMed health system as well as local, state and federal support.

Said U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC: “This state-of-the-art and full-service facility in Piedmont will improve access to much-needed health care in an underserved part of the I-85 corridor, including Anderson, Greenville and Pickens counties. I appreciate all the hard work that went into making this a reality, and I’m glad to have been a partner in this effort.

Officials said sixty-four high-paying jobs will be created at AnMed by the time the Piedmont campus’ medical office space opens in July.

For information on services, providers and the opening of medical offices at AnMed Piedmont, go to go.AnMed.org/Piedmont.

A community event to celebrate and provide tours will be held 9-11 a.m. May 10.

Food trucks, a Teddy Bear Clinic where children learn about health care, Safe Kids car-seat checks, mobile mammography services, visits with first-responders and more are planned. Admission is free.

Founded in 1908, AnMed is an independent, not-for-profit health system serving Upstate South Carolina and northeast Georgia.

It is licensed for 648 beds and anchored by AnMed Medical Center, a 495-bed acute-care hospital that’s earned the prestigious Magnet designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center since 2012.

Also included are a heart and vascular center, a maternity center and a comprehensive cancer center.

AnMed Rehabilitation Hospital, AnMed Cannon and more than 60 physician practices are also among service sites spread throughout the region.

The system has 620 physicians on medical staff and about 3,600 employees.