McKie - No Payment. Not a Penny!

Amelia McKie owes $51,750 to the South Carolina Ethics Commission, as of today.

How much has she paid on her debt? Not a penny. Not a single penny.

The Ethics Commission fined her for numerous violations (Eight Counts) of filing requirements between 2015 and 2018. Not one. Not two. Numerous!

July 3, 2018 The Ethics Commission issued a Decision and Order against Amelia McKie and ruled that McKie owed a total of $41,000, composed of a Reduced Late-filing Penalty of $24,425 plus a Civil Penalty of $16,000 plus an administrative fee of $575. McKie was ordered to pay $20,000 by December 31, 2018 and the remaining $21,000 by June 30, 2019.

The Ethics Commission further ordered that, if McKie did not pay in full within the time period specified, then a judgment in the amount of $51,750 would be filed against her in Richland County Court.

She did not pay even one penny.

July 10, 2019 A judgment of $51.750 was entered in Richland County Common Pleas Count against McKie. The Case No. is 2019CP4003809. 

The judgment is supposed to be collected by the S.C. Department of Revenue.

According to the Ethics Commission today, the balance due is still $51,750.

The 2018-2022 term for a board trustee runs to November 2022. If McKie started paying monthly in equal installments, with a commitment to pay off her debt by the end of the current term, she would have to pay $1,990 every month. 

The Richland 2 School District deserves trustees with impeccable financial history. Trustees are responsible for multi-millions of dollars of money, bonds, and assets. It's bad enough that McKie owes $51,750 and worse that she has made NO payment toward her indebtedness in two years. Not even token payments.

Adding insult to injury is the fact that she is not even a legal member of the Board, since she has never taken the oath of office legally. When the District finds itself forced to recover the $900/month it improperly paid out to a person who was not a legitimate member of the board, that will add $19.800 ($900 x 22) to her debt load.

In January or February 2019 a parent in the District asked during Public Participation at a Board Meeting for McKie to step down. McKie did not, and the rest of the Board won't insist on it. 

There is no appeal to her Ethics Commission debt, and I've been told that the S.C. DOR doesn't negotiate. The time allowed for appeal ran out a long time ago. When will the DOR collect on that judgment? It can take assets, and it can garnish her Richland 2 wages.