After years of corruption accusations, Richland County fired its penny tax director last week.

Richland County’s penny tax controversy helped defeat a similar Lexington County proposal.

Lexington County voters rejected the plan here by a 70% vote.

Richland County officials said they plan to hire a professional engineer to lead the Transportation Department after they fired Michael Niermeier.

The program has been sued over millions of dollars in misspending on projects unrelated to what the tax was for and other financial problems, The State newspaper reported.

Although Lexington County needs money for road repairs and improvements, another penny tax proposal has been shelved.

The county receives a small part of the state gas tax revenue but it won’t cover needed repairs, officials say.