Driving School in Cayce, SC

The City of Cayce is set to add a half-mile walking and biking trail to a wooded area close to its downtown arts district.

The project, which was initially approved by the Central Midlands Council of Governments in April 2023, will feature a 14-foot-wide concrete path that stretches just short of half a mile. Cayce City Council voted unanimously Thursday night to finance the project.

“This extends down Foreman Street to other businesses, allowing pedestrians and bicycles to get out of the roadway, but also to allow them safely to progress further around our city. We look forward to hopefully do more of this further down the road ... our city is full of bicyclists and we’re blessed for it and this is an avenue for them,” City Manager Mike Conley told the city council Thursday.

The trail, built along a closed rail bed corridor, will stretch from 2350 Foreman St., right in front of Steel Hands Brewing, to Frink Street, just down from the city-proclaimed river arts district on State Street. It’s anticipated to cost just shy of $500,000 for the planning and building of the trail. The city has agreed to pay $97,000 of that, while the South Carolina Department of Transportation, using a federal-aid grant, will supply $391,000.

It’ll join two separate projects that, when completed, will essentially connect Frink Street from State Street all the way down to James Street for pedestrians.

One project, which will place sidewalk from State Street to Foreman Street, will be funded by a grant from the S.C. Department of Transportation. SCDOT will pay just shy of $500,000 to relocate utilities for that trail. The other project, which’ll stretch new sidewalk from Foreman Street to James Street, is set to be completed with funding from Lexington County, Conley told City Council Thursday.

The city’s Mayor Elise Partin said the projects were “good progress for our residents,” during the Thursday night council meeting.

There’s not a set timeline for construction on the project, but city officials hope to have one soon, a spokesperson told The State.

COLUMBIA — The Greater Cayce West Columbia Chamber of Commerce confirmed a state investigation into their spending but denied any wrongdoing in an Oct. 15 letter.

The letter, signed by Chamber Chair Lindsey Miles, reinforced the organization’s “commitment to transparency, accountability, and lawful financial stewardship.”

Miles confirmed the Tourism Expenditure Review Committee, South Carolina’s sole oversight authority for tourism-related expenditures, initiated an investigation into the chamber last month.

According to a letter from TERC Chairman Ed Riggs, the investigation was triggered by a complaint that the chamber “has not been spending accommodations tax revenues in accordance with S.C. Code Ann. 6-4-10(3).”

Miles called the complaint "anonymous and unsupported," based on unsubstantiated allegations that the chamber may have misallocated accommodations tax revenue on non-tourism related activities.

Miles said the chamber provided TERC with “detailed documentation and financial reports outlining how A-Tax funds were used to promote tourism in the region,” including documents that had previously been submitted to Cayce.

On June 3, the Cayce City Council voted 3-to-1 vote to send all $44,000 of the tax money to the Chamber for the 25-26 fiscal year — a break from earlier years in which the money was split between the chamber and two local tourism organizations, Experience Columbia and Capital City/Lake Murray Country.

The move caused friction between the majority of the council and Mayor Elise Partin, who said at the time of the vote that she was unaware other council members were going to end funding to the two tourism agencies. She questioned whether the chamber could provide the same level of tourism promotion and called out its lack of reporting from previous years.

“We need those dollars to bring people into the community, and I have no data that says we get that from the chamber,” Partin said after the vote. “I don’t have any of the data to say what kind of return on investment we’re getting.”

According to the law, organizations are required to submit itemized expenditure reports showing how they spent the money awarded to them, including invoices. That’s because the funds can only be spent to promote and advertise tourism to the city who awarded the money.

“We have complied with the law, submitted regular reports, and used all funds solely to promote tourism and support our local economy,” Miles wrote. “We welcome oversight and are cooperating fully with the state to ensure complete transparency.”

Miles said the chamber’s budgets are approved by its board, which is composed of 20 local businesses. The chamber’s finances are reviewed by the internal Finance and Audit Committee, she added.

According to documents obtained by The Post and Courier, in the last three years the chamber submitted profit and loss statements in place of expenditure reports to the city of Cayce. The profit and loss statements do not differentiate between how the group spent funds awarded by Cayce and funds from other municipalities. While the report breaks down expenditures into categories such as “Advertising - TV” and “Advertising - Web,” it doesn’t provide invoices for how much each ad cost, nor does it list any vendors for those ads.

But in a follow-up email to The Post and Courier, the chamber said the city of Cayce never asked them to break down the cost of each individual advertisement or provide the name of the vendor, nor did they ask them for receipts. Regardless, the chamber said it has that information on file.

And the chamber said it included examples of advertisements it would create to promote the city as part of its 93-page application seeking city funding.

“We do not know why Cayce left that out of their submission,” the chamber said, referring to the city not providing the advertising examples in its report to TERC.

The chamber’s report also failed to provide any data on the effectiveness of its advertising and promotion — a statistic Cayce’s council specifically requested, according to documents obtained by The Post and Courier. Cayce’s Accommodations Tax Grant 30% Financial Report asks recipients to submit two years worth of data tracking total tourist attendance, broken down into local tourists and those who traveled from more than 50 miles away, along with hotel rooms and overnight stays booked as a result of the promotion.

The chamber left that section blank because the group uses the accommodations funds for operation expenses, excluding payroll.

“We are a visitor center with the goal to ultimately put heads in beds,” the chamber said in its follow-up statement. “Within the law, accommodations funds can be used toward operational expenses for a visitor center as long as they are promoting tourism in the area.”

An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the Tourism Expenditure Review Committee was within the S.C. Department of Revenue.

Cayce, SC 10/20/2025 - Eighteen local elected leaders, including , from across South Carolina been selected for the inaugural Fellows program, a bipartisan initiative designed to strengthen education policy from early childhood through workforce development.

The program, launching this month, brings The Hunt Institute’s proven fellowship model to the Palmetto State after proven . Fellows will examine South Carolina’s education system, connect with experts and practitioners, and develop strategies to improve educational outcomes in their communities.

Mayor Partin stated, “As Mayor for Cayce, SC, I’m honored to represent our community in The Hunt Institute’s inaugural SC Hunt State Policy Fellows program! It’s humbling to be selected to be with such a dynamic group of elected officials. I’ve already learned so much like every $1 investment in early childcare produces $7 in ROI. The SC State Chamber has good data on the cost when people can’t go to work because of childcare issues. This has a direct impact on our residents and it’s something we can improve.”

“We’re focused on giving leaders practical strategies that strengthen education and support families across South Carolina,” said Dr. Javaid Siddiqi, President & CEO of The Hunt Institute. “This cohort brings together leaders who are positioned to drive meaningful change in their communities.”

From October 2025 through February 2026, Fellows will participate in three convenings focused on early childhood, K-12 education, and postsecondary and workforce development. Sessions will feature briefings, panel discussions, and collaborative work with South Carolina education experts and practitioners.

The 2025 South Carolina Hunt State Policy Fellows cohort includes:

Mayors:

Billy Chavis, Town of Holly Hill, Lyman Dawkins III, City of Gaffney, GP McLeer, City of Fountain Inn, Elise Partin, City of Cayce, and Miko Pickett, City of Mullins

County and City Council Members:

Chris Bowers, Pickens County Council, Dr. Aditi Bussells, City of Columbia, Eddie Crosby, Dorchester County Council, Dennis DiSabato, Vice Chairman, Horry County Council, Ron Felder, Aiken County Council, Chaquez T. McCall, City of Florence, Sarai Melendez, City of Walhalla, Meghan Smith, City of Spartanburg, and Dan Wood, Town of Bluffton

School Board Trustees:

Wendy Burgess, Anderson County School District 1, Michelle Goodwin-Calwile, Greenville County School District, Liz Morris, Aiken County School District, and Rebecca Rundlett, Kershaw County School District

The Hunt Institute has successfully convened five cohorts in North Carolina and one in Virginia, building a network of more than 100 local and state leaders committed to strengthening education policy. The South Carolina cohort extends this work to support leaders across the Southeast.

Mayor Elise Partin of Cayce