True or False: Voting on a budget item provides city and town councils with an acceptable reason to call for an executive session, or “closed meeting.”
Answer: False.
A council may vote to go into an executive session to discuss only a handful of items listed in SC Code Section 30-4-70: personnel issues, contract negotiations, security issues, criminal investigations or economic development contracts. Voting on any budget questions must be done in an open session.
Additionally, council may not call an executive session without first convening a properly noticed public meeting. Before going into executive session, the council must vote in open session to enter executive session, and state the specific purpose and open-meeting exception for the closed-door meeting.
The Municipal Elected Officials Institute of Government offers online courses. In-person classes will resume when COVID-19 activity drops to safe levels. To register for the on-demand courses, go to the Municipal Association’s website and log in with your user identification number and password. The on-demand courses can be accessed 24/7 from any computer, tablet or mobile device that has internet connection and may be taken in any order.