Superintendent asks school board to consider 10-year, 1 percent sales tax

To ease wary residents into an educational sales tax, Beaufort County Superintendent Jeff Moss says he now recommends a 10-year plan that would meet the district's needs over that period of time and little else.

In November, Moss had asked the board's finance committee to consider approving a 15-year, 1 percent sales tax referendum that would generate about $483 million for capital projects, property tax reduction and support for local institutes of higher education.

However, he told the school board at a special-called meeting on Monday that he now supports asking voters to approve a shorter-termed sales tax that would be more palatable to the public while still reducing taxes on homes, businesses and vehicles.

If approved by the board, voters would be asked in November to impose a 1 percent sales that would be expected to generate about $282 million over the course of 10 years. The board also could ask voters to approve a bond referendum that would allow the district access to that money more quickly.

If the board instead chooses to pursue a 15-year sales tax, future boards would have the flexibility to use about $200 million as they saw fit for future capital projects -- such as the construction of new schools or roof and HVAC replacements -- or to continue lowering property taxes on the school district's debt service by one-third.

That plan, Moss said Monday, "leaves you with the question from some community members, 'Can we trust you with the difference in what you need and what the sales tax would generate,' and the 10-year takes away that argument, because you wouldn't have it."

In either plan, the district estimates its proposed sales tax would reduce property taxes for a Beaufort County primary homeowner by about $127 on a $300,000 home.

A nonresident homeowner with the same property would save about $190, the district projects.

After 10 years, if the district did not ask voters to renew the sales tax, property taxes on the district's debt service would increase by one-third again.

With the money generated from the sales tax, the district proposes to build several new schools in Bluffton and pay for additions or upgrades at existing schools.

The board plans to hold another special-called meeting this month to discuss the proposal in detail, including the district's $220 million list of capital needs for the next 10 years.

While most board members simply asked questions of the district's financial advisers on Monday night, several said they already approve of a 10- or 15-year plan.

"It would be a bold move on the part of the board to lay out the path to the future, because we can't guarantee in the future everyone supports this board," Paul Roth said. "So I like it."

One member of the public, former board member Jim Bequette, said he was critical of the plan until Moss presented the option of a shorter-termed sales tax.

He said he would consider anything longer than 10 years an effort to create a "slush fund" for the board, as the public would have little say in how the extra revenue is spent.

"Whether you know it or not, the school board has lost a lot of confidence," Bequette said, "... but I think I can support, if it's presented specific enough, a 10-year plan. That makes some sense to me."

Bequette was referencing harsh public backlash the district received in the fall over its handling of a nepotism controversy, which the board is still working its way out of as it crafts a new policy.

Board member Earl Campbell did not speak about the incident but cautioned his fellow board members against voting down a sales tax to "hurt" the board.

He said the revenue is necessary to prevent overcrowding and to repair aging schools.

"This is about students, and if we really want to educate our students and do what's best for them, we need to support it," he said. "I know there's some who are not going to support it, but you're not hurting anyone sitting around this table. You're hurting students, and our students have been hurting long enough."

The board will discuss potential dates for a second special-called meeting during its work sessions Friday or Saturday.

Moss asked the body to make a final decision by April on the sales tax -- including on how many years it would last and whether the district would offer to the share money with the Technical College of the Lowcountry and the University of South Carolina-Beaufort.

Under a 10-year tax, Moss has proposed giving each institute a total of $17 million.

Educational sales tax referendums have been passed in five other counties: Horry, Charleston, Cherokee, Aiken and Anderson.

They have been well received in each, said Brian Nurick, a financial adviser for four of those counties and the Beaufort County School District.

"Once the public has a lower tax bill, they typically don't want to vote to not renew the sales tax and have their property tax go up," Nurick said Monday night. "That's been the trend."

The school board has until Aug. 15 to finalize a referendum decision.

Follow reporter Rebecca Lurye on Twitter at twitter.com/IPBG_Rebecca.

Related content:

• School district may ask voters for nearly $480 million, November 16, 2015
• School board plans may interfere with new Beaufort County sales-tax referendum, October 20, 2015

This story was originally published February 1, 2016 at 8:55 PM with the headline "Superintendent asks school board to consider 10-year, 1 percent sales tax."