School property tax rollback 'a dead issue,' senators say

The (Hilton Head, SC) Island Packet

Posted on Thurs, Mar 1, 2007

By JEREMY HSIEH
jhsieh@beaufortgazette.com
843-986-5548

A bill that would force a rollback of property taxes that pay for school operations in Beaufort County and eight other school districts is unlikely to reach the Senate floor, two senators said Wednesday.

Sen. Larry Martin, R-Pickens County, said he introduced the bill Jan. 9 after those nine districts dramatically raised school taxes.

Through a referendum in November, voters approved a property tax relief measure that will add an extra 1 percent of state sales tax in June. The revenue is meant to replace the portion of homeowners' property taxes that pay for school operations. The state will pay those costs through the sales tax increase.

Martin said he thought those districts exploited the state by taking advantage of the revenue shift, calling it "a raid on the state treasury." Those increases only affected homeowners' tax bills this year. With the referendum taking effect, the state is expected to credit homeowners with the portion of their 2008 tax bills that cover school operating costs.

In Beaufort County, it was an 18 percent increase, equivalent to an extra $132 on a home with an assessed value of $200,000. However, two-thirds of the Beaufort County Council's school operating tax increase was intended to make up for a projected $14.4 million loss in state education funding and the other third to address growth and unfunded state mandates, said Assistant Superintendent of Finance Phyllis White.

Martin has since reconsidered his position. Officials from the districts penalized by the bill voiced "very legitimate concerns" and "very good reasons" for their actions, Martin said, and he doesn't expect it to reach the Senate floor.

Sen. Wes Hayes, R-York County, who is the chairman of a Senate Finance subcommittee that examined the bill, agreed.

"I think that's a dead issue," he said. Hayes' committee gave it an unfavorable recommendation, and the full Finance Committee did not act on it during its meeting Tuesday.

Even without the tax rollback, rapid growth and state-imposed caps on tax increases have led White to forecast budget deficits from 2009 forward if the district doesn't cut jobs, which would create problems meeting performance and class-size requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

White has said the rogue district label "adds insult to injury," though Martin said Beaufort County was never intended to be singled out.