SC

Pro-Tax Hike Group Forms In Charleston

ORGANIZATION SEEKS $2 BILLION TAX INCREASE A new group has formed in Charleston County, S.C. intent on raising the county-wide sales tax by half a penny – theoretically so local government leaders can “spend close to $2 billion to our crumbling infrastructure.” What will the money really fund? That’s anybody’s guess … although…

ORGANIZATION SEEKS $2 BILLION TAX INCREASE

A new group has formed in Charleston County, S.C. intent on raising the county-wide sales tax by half a penny – theoretically so local government leaders can “spend close to $2 billion to our crumbling infrastructure.”

What will the money really fund?

That’s anybody’s guess … although we’ve seen how these sales tax proposals operate (and we’ve seen how local governments are willing to rig elections to pass them).

The Charleston campaign – called “Complete the Penny” – aims to convince county council members to approve a referendum ostensibly enabling them to “pay for necessary road improvements and traffic solutions by slightly increasing the current half-penny transportation sales tax to a full penny.”

The half-penny tax increase would be on the ballot in 2016 if these insiders get their way …

Frankly, we’re done with these “local option” tax hikes.  Especially in Charleston.

This is a county that has been “force-fed” asphalt by the state for years … yet its infrastructure is still a mess?

How does that work, exactly?

Also … what happened to the hundreds of millions of dollars raised via the 2004 “half-penny” sales tax hike? 

Clearly “more money” in the hands of Lowcountry elected officials hasn’t gotten the job done.

Accordingly, these local leaders shouldn’t be trusted with a new influx of cash … they should instead stop blowing money on wasteful projects (like this one).

Don’t get us wrong: We’re not saying Charleston county doesn’t have serious infrastructure needs … it clearly does.

We’re saying its leaders have squandered billions in the past – and that simply passing the burden for their bad decisions on to taxpayers is wrong.

Anyway, our hope is that S.C. Department of Revenue (SCDOR) director Rick Reames is keeping a close eye on these developments … we know we will be.

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