State Rep. Jonathon Hill said Monday that he does not support increasing South Carolina’s gas tax to pay for highway projects.
Speaking during a town hall meeting at the Centerville fire station, the first-term Republican from Townville said, “We don’t need to raise the gas tax.”
The GOP-controlled state House of Representatives is expected to debate a road-funding bill when members return from a two-week break next month. A plan passed by the chamber’s Ways and Means Committee would raise $400 million annually by applying the state’s 6 percent sales tax to fuel while lowering the gas tax by 6 cents per gallon. The House measure also calls for an income-tax cut of about $48 per year for most taxpayers.
Hill told about 20 residents at Monday’s meeting that he opposes the House road-funding plan for several reasons.
For starters, Hill said, officials at the South Carolina Department of Transportation “just have no accountability.”
Hill said department officials have provided varying estimates about the sum needed to deal with a backlog of road and bridge projects.
“They are playing numbers games with us,” he said. “I don’t think they are telling the truth.”
Hill said department officials have provided varying estimates about the sum needed to deal with a backlog of road and bridge projects.
“They are playing numbers games with us,” he said. “I don’t think they are telling the truth.”
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South Carolina Association of Taxpayers 