SC

Richland County Tax Hike Approved

QUESTIONS REMAIN REGARDING VOTING IRREGULARITIES, CAMPAIGN TACTICS Voters in Richland County, S.C. have approved a $1.2 billion tax hike earmarked for all sorts of questionable boondoggles – including work on the University of South Carolina’s spectacularly failed “Innovista” project. This botched speculative real estate deal continues to receive state tax…

QUESTIONS REMAIN REGARDING VOTING IRREGULARITIES, CAMPAIGN TACTICS

Voters in Richland County, S.C. have approved a $1.2 billion tax hike earmarked for all sorts of questionable boondoggles – including work on the University of South Carolina’s spectacularly failed “Innovista” project.

This botched speculative real estate deal continues to receive state tax dollars, as well as special tax breaks from the City of Columbia.  Now it will receive a cut of county revenue, too – all despite the fact that it has failed miserably to live up to its promise of “thousands of new high-paying jobs.”

The regressive Richland County sales tax increase – which will be assessed for the next 22 years – received 74,029 votes.  Meanwhile 64,684 people voted against the measure – although we’ll never know what the margin would have been had there not been widespread failure of voting machines in key anti-tax districts.  These malfunctions forced wait times of more than four hours in some locations – causing an unknown number of voters in anti-tax precincts to give up their bid to cast ballots.

In addition to this curious rash of voting machine failures, supporters of the tax hike have been accused of violating restrictions regarding their proximity to polling places – with several supporters (including Columbia, S.C. mayor Steve Benjamin) being accused of illegally soliciting support for the measure.

A similar measure failed two years ago, prompting Benjamin to insist on a new fee for City of Columbia energy customers.

Think that fee will be dropped now?

Don’t be ridiculous …

Incidentally, this tax hike was passed in no small measure thanks to a $50,000 “education” campaign funded by … you guessed it … Richland County taxpayers.

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36 comments

Travis Zachary November 7, 2012 at 7:48 pm

Who in their right mind would actually vote for a tax hike?

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Frank Pytel November 8, 2012 at 5:02 am

I did. Fuck em. I’ll shop in Lexington. Clearest and biggest libtard county (or nearly) in the state. Let them pay for the services they recieve.

Have a Great Day!! There won’t be many left with Odumbass in charge.

Frank Pytel :)

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The Colonel November 7, 2012 at 8:00 pm

The same 66.9% of dumbasses who pulled the Democrat straight party ticket vote.

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Frank Pytel November 8, 2012 at 5:02 am

yep yep

Have a Great Day!! There won’t be many left with Odumbass in charge.

Frank Pytel :)

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ceilidh10 November 8, 2012 at 9:29 am

you old white small town, small minded men are no longer in charge. you got your ass whipped on Election day.

the world doesn’t revolve around your small, backward thinking, last-in- the- nation southern mentality.

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The Colonel November 8, 2012 at 10:20 am

Yeah – you keep believing that Ceilidh.

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Lewis November 7, 2012 at 8:47 pm

Of course Richland County needed that penny tax. There are streets left that don’t have fountains and scores of friends and relatives of City and County officials that still don’t have jobs with either the county or the city. I am guess I will be 110 years old before Bob Coble gives an honest explanation of how the money from the exorbitant water system fees were consistently diverted to fund other projects in the city. For YEARS under his watch. Now we need, what 900 kabillion dollars to ungrade and maintain the city’s plumbing? Pathetic.

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Johnny November 7, 2012 at 8:55 pm

Shop and eat in Lexington County where the taxes are cheaper.

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Judy Chop November 7, 2012 at 8:57 pm

Don’t forget that the city buses will be upgraded with this money to carry the great unwashed around the city to their minimum wage jobs.

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jimlewis,owb November 7, 2012 at 9:22 pm

Who would have “thunk” the Neanderthal Cockroaches running Richland County had the smarts to short change anti tax precincts with fewer voting machines and broken machines all in an effort to stack the deck so that they could get their hands on a Billion Dollar slush fund for the next 20 years.

My bet is that the next time the sons of bitches want to control the vote they are going to provide every precinct with chisels and stone blocks for the taxpayers to cast their fucking vote.

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xx chromosome November 8, 2012 at 8:28 am

Quite clever are those Richland County Election Officials/ Mayor Benjamin. They pulled one over on us again!

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BradWarthenSucks November 7, 2012 at 9:31 pm

But it’s going to bring 17,000 jobs to Columbia per the independent study… paid for by the City of Columbia.

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Jerry Sandusky November 7, 2012 at 9:57 pm

You Republican turds are fucking hilarious. Your archaic policies lost. Now go eat your god damn crow and shut the fuck up. YOU FUCKING LOST!!! SCOREBOARD BITCHES!!!

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Frank Pytel November 8, 2012 at 5:08 am

You really don’t get it do you?

Richland county is one of the most liberal counties in the state. So Republiturds lost, how? The libtards voted for… wait for it… more taxes on the libtards. WTF is it that repuklitards actually did to themselves here? They lost on this subject exactly how?

Yes yes, I know. Oshitforbrains won. That makes this a good reason to just post it everywhere, right? Relevance has not bearing.

Like the stupid ho I saw at the store on election eve, singing “God Bless America, Land Barack Owns…”. Yeah. This isn’t going to be over in four years.

Have a Great Day!! There won’t be many left with Odumbass in charge.

Frank Pytel :)

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Howie Koch for president November 8, 2012 at 8:28 am

I thought all the teapartiers were catching the next plane to anywhere else after the election..

y’alls lack of intelligence constantly reveals itself.

First you say you will move to canada or europe to avoid socialist policies and government run healthcare (savor the irony)

then you say you will drive an extra 10 to 20 miles (at $5 a gallon of gas-your “estimated figures if obama gets elected)to shop in a town where you will pay 1% less just for “principle”..

go ahead..if you keep showing that kind of “principle” you will have made yourself broke. And the irony (again) is that you will blame obama the whole way..

throw in the new movie titled “Dumb..dumber and dumbest”..about the political poster children for the tea party movement…bryant..bright and shealy… all sitting on the back row. Boy, I bet their conversations will sound just like a clip from the movie “idiocracy”..

“Its a great day in SC…Love ya”…

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Smirks November 8, 2012 at 8:36 am

I would think Charleston would be more liberal than Richland. Richland is far, far more incompetent and corrupt, though, on several orders of magnitude.

I voted for Obama, but I did not support the penny tax. Then again, I don’t live in Poorland county for that exact reason. But hey, in 2-4 years, when the bus system is still failing, and the county asks for another tax hike, we will all be there to say “I told you so” to the morons that voted for this shit.

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Frank Pytel November 8, 2012 at 8:40 am

Smirks. Please. I said one of, not THEE. I voted for Oshitforbrains myself. I can’t wait to see the fireworks.

Who the frack are you talking to about TP Howie. They’re in the republitards back pocket. Did you accidently post to the wrong thread? Please read the post.

Have a Great Day!! There won’t be many left with Odumbass in charge.

Frank Pytel :)

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Briggs Ducane November 7, 2012 at 11:06 pm

@ Jerry Sandusky- If I had your child molestor last name I would cage myself and set the cage on fire. You are a loser…..

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Frank Pytel November 8, 2012 at 5:08 am

I think its OGOB. Wants his daughter to get laid at 15.

BBBbbwwwwaahaahahahahhaahhahahahah

Have a Great Day!! There won’t be many left with Odumbass in charge.

Frank Pytel :)

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Original Good Old Boy November 8, 2012 at 10:23 am

You are indeed disturbed Frank. I think you make big t seem rational.

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BigT November 8, 2012 at 5:41 am

(MarketWatch) Why Stocks May Keep Falling: ‘The Sugar High Will End’
“Investors cast their own vote on the presidential race Wednesday, and the result was (an Anti-Obama) landslide rout that could have lasting repercussions beyond Tuesday’s results.”

Let it FALL, let it fall let it fall….And let Obama, and his F*(&^n Dolts ANSWER FOR IT..

It has just begun…the EARNERS will back out…and let the media have their IDIOT…and explain why he has CRAsHED our country…

We aid and abeit by supporting their leftwing hate and failure…

We’re on our on…They’ll be too many of us to came after…

Reply
Smirks November 8, 2012 at 8:42 am

Big(o)T Translator: “Let America fall so that establishment Republicans can benefit politically from it!”

Why do you hate America?

Reply
BigT November 8, 2012 at 1:02 pm

Obama told us he will fix it…I’m WAITING!!!!

Hahahahahahaha…

Be careful what you wish for…Dumb@$$…..

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EJB November 8, 2012 at 7:08 am

Columbia and Richland County have taxed everything they can, they have used the water and sewer plants to raise revenue they didn’t have the guts to ask the taxpayers for, they put extra “fees” on automobile registrations and each time they have done each of these things they say “we just need this one thing”. They will NEVER get enough of your money. They have the US EPA fine hanging over their heads, massive charges for upgrading the water and sewer system in the city/county and Cola/Richland voters think this is it? Surprise, lots more is a coming. Leave your wallets and purses on the counter.

They will change priorities and projects as they see fit, nothing in the penny tax measure stops them from doing this. Voters allowed them to borrow the money against future “projected” revenues. When they set the amount to borrow they will overestimate future revenues so they can borrow more money. The revenues will not keep pace with projections so they will come back wanting another penny. Plus while all this is going on no one mentions the EPA fine and sewer/water upgrades then those come due. Cola/Richland, you people are screwed. Sell now while you can and get the hell out NOW. Those that wait a year will sell at 75% of what they can get now. But please, don’t bring your foolish fetish for “small” tax increases to Lexington County, we are having a problem putting out those fires as it is now.

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xx chromosome November 8, 2012 at 8:24 am

So the car dealers in surrounding counties must be ecstatic since most of us will buy cars there to save money on sales tax. The real losers here are the car dealers and other retailers in Richland County. That also means job loss for people working for car dealers in Richland County.

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Smirks November 8, 2012 at 8:46 am

Uhh, sales tax on the purchase of cars is capped at $300. Does the county sales tax not fall under that cap? (I honestly don’t know.)

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vicupstate November 8, 2012 at 11:13 am

Local Sales Taxes are not levied on cars.

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Howie Koch for president November 8, 2012 at 8:31 am

dumbass..

car taxes are capped at $300. Thats so all you tea partiers can keep buying your buicks and oldsmobiles and cadillacs without paying taxes for them.

Why dont yall know anything about what you complain about?

The true “uneducated masses” are the libertarians rinos who lie about being republicans, but are too stupid to actually know the laws they supposedly want to change.

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Frank Pytel November 8, 2012 at 8:42 am

Oh that’s simple Mr. Mandel. Repeal every law written in the last 60 years. That would be a real good start.

Have a Great Day!! There won’t be many left with Odumbass in charge.

Frank Pytel :)

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xx chromosome November 8, 2012 at 10:04 am

ok – my bad. I forgot car sales taxes are capped at $300 b/c I only buy a used car about every 10 yrs. However there are other big ticket items that are not capped at $300.

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The Colonel November 8, 2012 at 10:29 am

“… Thats so all you tea partiers can keep buying your buicks and oldsmobiles and cadillacs without paying taxes for them….” (sic)

You’re a fricking idiot. The sales price of the car includes a sales tax – the legislature fixed the tax at $300 in part to deal with the pressures of local option sales taxes. Last time I looked we pay multiple taxes every year for the privilege of operating the car. gas tax, property tax, registration fees- ever heard of those? Probably not, your Yugo probably still has a cardboard “Dealer” tag on it.

Oh, for the record, the last Oldsmobile was produced in April of 2004.

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TheFunkyMonkey November 8, 2012 at 11:49 am

Well, let’s set the real record straight. Your vehicle “purchase” tax is capped at $300. Then they start really fucking you with personal property taxes which are so archaic. So the more that you can afford, the more you support the many welfare recipients in this state. Yes, that makes sense and is fair… No one has been able to explain to me with any intellectual reasoning how it it OK to tax me for a vehicle or boat for 10 fucking years.

Let’s use a $30,000 new car as an example. If purchased in a state with sane tax laws with a sales tax of 6% you pay $1800 in taxes at the time of purchase. In SC you’ll pay your $300 at time of purchase and then let’s say that PP taxes average out to $350 over 10 years. Our dumb asses in SC just paid $3800 in taxes for the same car. That’s assuming you keep the vehicle for 10 years but nonetheless, it’s a fucked up approach to taxes.

I, too, voted against the penny tax and am appalled that it passed.

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Dixieland November 8, 2012 at 8:51 am

Is the unseating of a long-time state Senator not worthy of a follow-up story here? What’s up with that?

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Frank Pytel November 8, 2012 at 8:55 am

Long time sitting JACKASS. Knotts is gone. Why do we need to talk about it. Have a drink and relax. Only several thousand to go.

Have a Great Day!! There won’t be many left with Odumbass in charge.

Frank Pytel :)

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Petey November 8, 2012 at 9:26 am

I’m most worried about his comment that Shealy will not be able to hire her own secretary. Does this mean that another relative of Knotts may be out of a job too?

Danny Frazier – Gone
Jake Knotts – Gone
James Metts – Needs to retire
Donnie Meyer – How does this drunk keep getting elected
Randy Halfacre – Nobody was signing the petition to put him on the ballot when I was in line on Tuesday. Needs to retire to that half-acre.

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Mary November 8, 2012 at 9:30 am

Hope you idiots in Richland enjoy. I will be eating and shopping in Lexington county only and I live in Richland county. I can’t ride the bus because they won’t expand service to my area and have no plans for any road improvements here. In fact I bet they will ask for more money in two years

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