A proposal on several ballots across South Carolina could change the debate for maintaining state roads. The two big referendums to watch are in Lexington and Greenville Counties but there have been similar projects voted on or proposed in about 15 different counties across South Carolina. Lexington County has a penny tax on the ballot that would not just look at roads but some capital improvements. Greenville County’s is only for roads and infrastructure. One study by the county found it would take the state 83 years just to go through the normal paving cycle for one road.

Read the full article by clicking the link below.

http://www.wistv.com/story/26818020/county-ballot-proposals-to-fix-roads-could-change-funding-debate

You can expect slow, steady growth in the S.C. economy in the short run, economists said Wednesday. “We’re in the sixth year of economic recovery, and our forecast continues to call for slow and steady growth,” Board of Economic Advisors chairman Chad Walldorf said after that board heard from five regional economists. Some growth is expected in personal income – either because of higher wages, more workers in the state or a combination of the two.

The economists expect personal income to grow about 3.75 percent in the state’s current fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2015. They expect personal income to strengthen — increasing by 4.1 percent to 4.5 percent — next fiscal year, which starts July 1, 2015.

The majority of S.C. voters oppose increasing the state’s gas tax, according to a new Winthrop Poll.But with more facts, S.C. voters might be open to paying more at the pump to repair the state’s crumbling roads and bridges, a pollster says. In questions asked exclusively for The State, the Winthrop Poll found 52.3 percent of likely S.C. voters oppose increasing the state’s 16.8-cent-a-gallon gas tax.

“People just want to back away from taxes,” said Winthrop University political scientist Scott Huffmon, who directs the Winthrop Poll. “They’re not popular.” About four in 10 of those surveyed – 43.5 percent – said they favored increasing the state’s gas tax. The rest – 4.2 percent – either were not sure or refused to answer.

South Carolina’s roads are in poor shape. But paying to repair those roads and build new roads to handle added traffic and other transit needs will cost nearly $43 billion that the state does not expect to have over the next 26 years.What’s the state to do? One proposal suggested has been to increase the state’s gas tax, one of the lowest in the nation, by 2 cents a gallon each year for the next decade.

Horry County is mailing out reassessment notices this week and only about a quarter of the county’s 250,000 properties will get one. That’s because notices are sent only for those properties that have increased in value by more than $1,000 since the 2009 reassessment. It’ll be the first reassessment in the county’s history where there is a decrease in the total market value of all properties, $39.8 billion this year compared to $40.3 billion after the last reassessment. About 65,266 properties increased in value by more than $1,000 since 2009, 158,662 properties had market value decreases of $1,000 or more and the remaining 26,000 fell somewhere between increasing or decreasing by less than $1,000.

The total valuation speaks first to the county’s property tax rate in the eyes of property owners, but it also speaks to the state of the area’s economy. And to some, it can signal where it might go in the future. The total valuation is down, but not as low as it would have been if the reassessment was done in 2011, the low point of the area’s real estate market.

In 2007, said Rob Salvino, an economist at Coastal Carolina University, the median single-family home price was $220,000, the high point of the area’s real estate prices. Four years later it had dropped to $180,000 and has rebounded to more than $190,000 today.

Read the full story by clicking the link below.

http://www.scnow.com/news/state/article_ffc92232-4967-11e4-83e5-0017a43b2370.html

Taxes are going up across Florence County, and the increase is linked to fire service. You’ll see that increase next month when you get your property tax notice. The county council approved the increase in a six to three vote. “The millage for fire service in Florence County the unincorporated areas of Florence County are now officially 27.5 mills on the tax notices with no bond millage for this year,” Florence County Chairman James Schofield said. That’s an additional $28 per 100,000 house. “We just had a public hearing this morning about the seven mill increase and there was no one there,” Schofield said. Although no one came out in protest of the increase, three council members did not support it.

For the full story click the link below.

http://www.wmbfnews.com/story/26628915/fire-tax-goes-up-across-florence-county

The president of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce  says his group will push for a one-cent increase in the state gas tax over the next 10 years. Otis Rawl on Monday told a business group pushing to improve the state’s roads that he thinks South Carolina’s leaders have talked enough about poorly maintained roads and bridges and it is time for action.

Rawl told the South Carolina Alliance to Fix Our Roads that a poll of Republican voters shows a majority would support the gas tax increase if it was carefully presented. He said that any increase likely needs the backing of the next governor.

Neither major party candidate for governor has backed a gas tax increase.

Advocates on both sides are ramping up campaign efforts to win votes as the date draws near for residents to decide on a controversial 1% sales tax increase referendum.

Greenville County Council voted 8-3 in June to include the tax referendum on the November ballot. If approved, the sales tax increase would fund a $650 million list of infrastructure improvement projects, including road resurfacing and bridge-, intersection- and pedestrian-related projects designed to alleviate congestion, account for population growth and improve the safety of the county’s infrastructure grid.

“This is going to cost taxpayers at least $65 million a year by the revenue projections of the county. That’s going to take $65 million out of the economy. It’s going to hurt small businesses,” said Americans for Prosperity South Carolina  State Director Dave Schwartz at a rally on Tuesday. “Our strategy is going to be making sure we go out and educate Greenville Countians and what this tax is going to mean for them.”

On the other side, Citizens for a Better Greenville has argued that poor county infrastructure directly affects businesses, causing them to be less efficient and possibly causing them to relocate elsewhere. The group says infrastructure also affects residents’ quality of life.

Read the full story from gsabusiness.com below.

http://www.gsabusiness.com/news/52407-advocates-on-both-sides-take-tax-fight-to-the-streets?rss=0

Our children, our community, and our economy will benefit from updating our school facilities. Everyone in Aiken County shares the vision of our schools providing a quality education that prepares our children to become good citizens, to become self-reliant and to be prepared for employment in the 21st century economy. This is what our parents’ generation provided us, and we understand that it is right for us to do the same for the generations that follow us. In November, we will be given the opportunity to take an important step in meeting that obligation by voting for the 1 percent sales tax proposal to fund critically needed improvements to our school facilities. Many of our facilities are old and functionally obsolete.

There are those who comment that buildings do not educate students. While that is undeniably true, it is also true that school facilities are an important element in the delivery of a quality education. We know that buildings have long, useful lives. However, eventually every building must be replaced even while we take care to maintain and upgrade it along the way.

You can read the full story by clicking the link below.

http://www.aikenstandard.com/article/20140902/AIK02/140909998/1018/AIK02/column-one-percent-tax-increase-benefits-local-community

Oconee County taxpayers will not see a tax increase this year despite lower-than-expected projected revenues. By a 4-1 vote Tuesday the Oconee County Council rejected any idea of adding an additional mill to the county tax rate to cover a projected shortfall to the School District of Oconee County of about $500,000. Council Chairman Joel Thrift cast the dissenting vote.

County auditor Ken Nix told the council that because of lower-than-expected tax assessments for Duke Energy he was recommending a 1-mill increase, to 216 mills from last year’s 215 mills, to fund the budgets of both the county and the school district.

For the full story click the link below.

http://www.independentmail.com/news/oconee-council-rejects-tax-increase_71404016