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.