Beaufort County schools will soon get more money from certain property owners

Beaufort County has signed off on a more than $216 million budget for its public school system next year, and a tax increase to help fund it.

County Council granted final approval Monday, 8-3, for the Beaufort County School District’s fiscal year 2017 budget, which is set to go into effect Friday. Members Cynthia Bensch, Rick Caporale and Brian Flewelling were opposed, but did not argue against the budget Monday night.

The plan includes a tax increase for owners of second homes, businesses and rentals, the only property owners who fund public schools under state law Act 388.

The millage increase, from 103.5 to 111.5, will cost the owner of a second home valued at $265,000 — the county’s median — nearly $130 more in annual property taxes, according to the district.

That hike will bring in about $5 million, offsetting the lower-than-anticipated revenue from the county’s slipping ranks of second-home owners, who pay a 6 percent property tax rate. Full-time residents pay a 4 percent property tax rate, none of which goes toward school operations, under the state’s controversial school funding system passed in 2006.

With the number of full-time residents growing much faster than the number of residents paying the 6-percent rate in recent years, school and county officials alike have called Act 388 unsustainable.

But even with Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, pushing for reform in the funding of school operations, local officials have said they could find no acceptable short-term alternative to squeezing property owners for more cash.

Next year’s nearly $216.8 million budget is up about $13.3 million from this year, a 6.5 percent increase.

About 40 percent of the district’s new needs are going toward covering state and federal mandates, such as salary and health insurance increases. The rest comes from within the district, including hiring new employees and teachers, higher operational costs and increased cost-of-living supplements for teachers.

Several people publicly thanked the council on Monday in advance of its vote, including St. Helena Island Elementary School principal Senfronia Smith and Dot Gnann, a former district teacher, principal and board member.

A third person, Mossy Oaks Elementary School teacher Lawrence Anderson, became emotional as he spoke about local educators’ dedication to the district despite low salaries in relation to the area’s high cost of living.

He also argued that a vote to keep the district’s budget whole, even at the expense of taxpayers, was a vote to invest in children’s futures.

“Thank you for investing and preparing them to be citizens who will contribute to our economy with the understanding that Beaufort County will be a great place to return to and raise their family,” Anderson said.

This story was originally published June 27, 2016 at 8:02 PM with the headline "Beaufort County schools will soon get more money from certain property owners."