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‘Greenville’s Future’ Pushes Back Against Billion-Dollar Tax Hike

Leaders blast “double taxation,” call on equity in infrastructure funding …

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A group of current and future leaders in Greenville County, South Carolina are joining forces and calling on voters in this staunchly GOP enclave to reject a local option sales tax that would drain $1 billion from taxpayers over the next eight years.

The proposed levy – a tax hike on all purchases excepting gas, groceries and prescription medication – is being pushed for placement on the November 2024 ballot. If it winds up there – and is approved by voters – it would take effect next year and run through 2033.

Greenville County council gave first reading to a resolution placing the tax hike on the ballot last month, but a growing group of county leaders are now standing in opposition to its passage as a key second vote looms this evening (July 16, 2024).

Council members Benton Blount, Rick Bradley, Steve Shaw and Stan Tzouvelekas have joined forces with recently elected council nominees Garey Collins, Frank Farmer, Kelly Long and Curt McGahhey to oppose the tax hike. According to the coalition, its imposition would amount to “double taxation” and seek to compensate for “the state’s disproportionate use of our taxpayer money in counties (other) than our own.”

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According to a news release (.pdf) from these leaders, Greenville County receives only approximately 15 percent of the funds it contributes to the state’s gas tax – which itself has been hiked by 71 percent over the last six years.

Has the statewide gas tax hike “fixed our roads?” No.

Have similar local option tax hikes in other counties “fixed our roads?” Hell no.

Before considering any local option tax hikes, these Greenville leaders want state lawmakers – especially members of the powerful Greenville County legislative delegation – to do a better job protecting the money collected from the taxes they are currently paying.

“We urge our state legislators in Columbia to pass legislation ensuring at least 80 percent of our gas tax dollars return to the county of origin,” they noted. “Presently, only four cents of every 26 cents we pay in gas taxes comes back to (Greenville County) to fix our roads.”

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The coalition will gather this afternoon at 5:40 p.m. EDT at Greenville County Square (301 University Ridge) to “speak in opposition to the proposed tax.”

“This unprecedented collaboration signifies a pivotal moment in county council history, demonstrating a renewed commitment to delivering true, accountable, and transparent governance to the people,” the eight local leaders noted in their joint statement. “This proposed ballot question represents double taxation for the citizens and a billion-dollar boondoggle. It also misleads the public by calling it a ‘penny’ rather than a one percent sales tax.”

One of the Palmetto State’s most populated, prosperous counties, Greenville does not currently impose a local option sales tax. That makes its 6 percent rate the lowest sales tax in South Carolina (along with Oconee and Georgetown counties). By contrast, Berkeley, Charleston and Horry counties feature the highest sales tax rates in the state at 9 percent.

On average, sales tax in South Carolina clocks in at 7.5 percent, according to the latest data from the Tax Foundation. That’s the eighteenth highest sales tax rate in the nation – and it impacts a population which is already paying the highest income tax rate in the southeast.

Supporters of the tax hike – including cheerleaders in the mainstream media – have argued it would “improve the county’s deteriorating infrastructure” by “alleviating congestion, bolstering safety and upgrading intersections on roadways throughout the county.”

In addition to offering such effusively non-specific praise for the project, not a single syllable of criticism was included in the latest “report” on its status from The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier.

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THE STATEMENT …

(Greenville’s Future)

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

(Travis Bell Photography)

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina and before that he was a bass guitarist and dive bar bouncer. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

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1 comment

Ronnie July 16, 2024 at 5:45 pm

LOL…shouldn’t we be in the tax free utopia Republicans have been promising since the 1990’s by now?

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