York County Chairwoman Christi Cox’s staff just released a proposed FY27 budget that spikes County Council Salaries & Benefits by 114.21%. The increase lands as the county remains locked in high-stakes Silfab legal disputes.
The FY27 budget book shows County Council Salaries & Benefits rising from $237,962 to $509,747. That is a $271,785 jump. The budget lists it as a 114.21% increase.
Overall, the Council budget rises from $442,896 to $714,709. That is $271,813 more, a 61.37% increase.
The legal footprint is growing too. The County Attorney budget increases from $1,019,608 to $1,376,023. That is $356,415 more, a 34.96% increase.
And the budget book says the County Attorney litigates through direct representation or “the coordination of retained counsel,” meaning the county uses outside lawyers. Yet the budget does not list firms, cases, or vendor totals.
Two more spikes stand out.
Public Safety Communications jumps from $7,262,385 to $10,090,392. That is $2,828,007 more, a 38.94% increase. The operating line alone rises from $3,433,204 to $5,738,000. That is a 67.13% increase.
Planning & Development rises from $5,951,580 to $7,385,843. That is $1,434,263 more, a 24.10% increase. The operating line nearly doubles, from $1,048,618 to $2,060,650. That is a 96.51% jump.
The Planning & Development department handles zoning, permitting, and enforcement decisions that sit at the heart of the Silfab dispute.
County officials now say that the $271,785 spike in “County Council Salaries & Benefits” is not a raise for council members salaries. They say it reflects the addition of 1 new attorney position reporting directly to Council (a public attorney with a salary of $271,785 would be one of the highest paid public attorney’s in the state of South Carolina).
That is why York County Chairwoman Christi Cox is now facing fresh scrutiny.
A recent Charlotte Stories article shows internal emails between Chairwoman Christi Cox and Silfab leadership, documenting how zoning laws and the 2024 BZA ruling were seemingly ignored to force the approvals of Silfab’s factory as lawsuits mounted.
During a 2023 council meeting about the Silfab project, Chairwoman Christi Cox notes that Silfab’s operations (ruled as “Heavy Industrial” by the BZA before any permits were issued) would generate 5.5x as much tax revenue as the previous Light Industrial usage.
Local budget impact
For Fort Mill residents, this budget is not abstract. Chairwoman Christi Cox is asking taxpayers to fund bigger government and significantly more legal expenses at the same time trust is collapsing and lawsuits involving local residents, the York County government, and Silfab are mounting.
The budget shows big totals. It does not show vendor detail. And it does not show case-by-case legal spending.
That leaves families with one question. Is York County building capacity to protect residents, or to fight them?
