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.
That increase, however slight, should lead to an increase in state revenues, via higher sales tax and income tax collections. Sales taxes and individual income taxes make up the majority of the state’s $7.2 billion general fund budget. Regional economists said they expect the state’s sales tax collections to grow from 3.2 percent to 3.4 percent, which would add up to $88.4 million to next fiscal year’s budget. The economists say individual income taxes could grow from 3.6 percent to 4 percent, adding up to $140 million to the state’s budget.
South Carolina Association of Taxpayers 