The Advocate: We must pass the one tax we truly need
- 20 hours ago
- 4 min read
By Jay Williams, Jr.
No one can claim that South Carolina is a low-tax state. We’ve got property taxes, state and city sales taxes, an income tax, meals and accommodations tax and a gas tax — not counting fees and other charges on most everything, including parking.
Nonetheless, we absolutely must pass the half-penny Transportation Sales Tax this fall, and there’s still time to improve the current proposal.
We simply can’t let the condition of our streets and roads deteriorate any further or faster! And we’ve outgrown our infrastructure.
It may surprise you that Charleston County — not the city or the state — handles the major repairs and repaving of almost all our city and county streets and roads, making the Charleston County Council extremely important.
And this year, after the Charleston County Council failed in 2024 to foist an invasive, and breathtakingly expensive I-526 Mark Clark Extension on us, it will try again on November 3 to pass a new Transportation Sales Tax (TST).
The good news is that the Mark Clark Extension zombie is finally dead; the bad news is that the county council generated so much voter distrust in the process that this next attempt could fail as well. At least one county commissioner is so concerned that the council needs more time to regain residents’ trust that he doesn’t even want to try.
But try we must. The county council majority wasted both time and money in its attempt to shove the I-526 Extension down voters’ throats, resulting in the postponement of many key infrastructure projects that will now cost more to complete.
Here’s the reality: If the 2024 Sales Transportation Tax referendum had not been mishandled, it would have generated $5.4 billion throughout 25 years. Even if this revised half-penny tax passes this year, it is projected to raise only $4.25 billion, or 21 percent less. The reason is lower government spending and a different economy today. In addition to rising inflation, road construction costs have risen even more sharply, by about 70 percent during the past five years. That misguided I-526 zombie cost us big time, setting major projects back years.
Meanwhile, our streets and roads are deteriorating. In 2021, the county’s Pavement Condition Index (PCI) stood at 70 percent. Now it has dropped to 63 percent, with 40 percent of our roads in “poor” or “very poor” condition. If funding remains at the current level, the PCI index will fall to 43 percent by 2033.
Just maintaining all the streets and roads in Charleston County at the current 63 percent PCI would cost $27.5 million annually, yet we’re spending less than $10 million annually to restore and repave them.
Funding for street and road maintenance comes from two sources: a portion of the state’s gas tax (3.99 cents per gallon, known as “C” funds) and the existing half-cent Sales Transportation Tax passed in 2016. Unfortunately, gas tax revenue is declining year after year, even with more cars on the road, because newer vehicles, especially hybrids and EVs, use less or no gas.
Without additional funding, the Pavement Condition Index will continue to decline. Passing a new Transportation Sales Tax would generate an additional $15.6 million annually for road maintenance, rural road improvements and safety improvements. That wouldn’t get us all the way to what’s needed, but it’s a critical step.
Major infrastructure projects are also set to be funded through this tax referendum. In Charleston, these include the Battery Extension Project West; Calhoun Street and the Medical District; Maybank Highway, Southern Pitchfork, and the Roundabout; Glenn McConnell Parkway at Magwood Road; U.S. 17 South widening (Dobbin to Main Road); Better North Bridge; and Hagood Avenue flooding mitigation.
In Mt. Pleasant, plans include reconfiguring the intersection of Johnny Dodds Blvd. at Houston Northcutt and implementing resiliency measures for Long Point Road.
The current Transportation Sales Tax Allocations propose allocating $2.56 billion toward infrastructure projects, $850 million to public transit, $650 million to the greenbelt and $190 million to bike and pedestrian improvements, but these allocations could still change. The $850 million originally allocated for greenbelt land purchases and maintenance was shifted to CARTA, reducing greenbelt funding to $650 million. That last-minute change should be reversed.
By 2040, South Carolina’s population will swell by 29 percent — more than 1.5 million people. As important as CARTA is and will be, the population surge will create a far more urgent demand for raw land. If we don’t save our rural open spaces now, they will be gone forever, and the resulting untempered development will permanently worsen our traffic and infrastructure crisis.
County Council Vice Chair Larry Kobrovsky said the original draft prepared by county staff reflected residents’ belief that land conservation is a priority. It is. Greenbelt funding should be restored to $850 million. With your help, it can be.
Further, the greenbelt funds are now scheduled to be split 50-50 between urban and rural areas. This must also change, with 70 percent of the funds allocated to protecting rural land.
Perhaps chastened by its 2024 defeat, the Charleston County Council has made a welcome effort to be more transparent and specific about priority projects. Although the draft referendum was developed with input from the area’s mayors, other officials and more than 29,000 public comments, there’s still time this month for your voice to count.
Contact your Charleston County councilmember or email your feedback to tst@publicinput.com. Please include your address and contact information. Don’t miss your chance to shape the priorities of this critical referendum.
Jay Williams, Jr. arrived in Charleston in 2001 to escape the cold and relax in the warmth of a better culture and climate. This all worked well until May of 2011 when he attended a cruise terminal discussion at Physicians Hall.
