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Why your county property taxes are rising

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The county jail is severely overcrowded. The Beaufort County School District needs money to manage its debt. And the county needs cash to cope with a projected deficit.

All that adds up to a property tax increase, county Councilman Rick Caporale said Friday.

"There's going to be an increase in millage," Caporale said. "There's no question about that. But I don't think it's going to be dramatic."

The millage, also known as the tax rate, is a figure applied to the value of property to calculate property taxes.

One of the problems is residential property taxes aren't keeping up with costs. So county administrator Gary Kubic has asked council members to find cuts in nonessential services, such as the operation and maintenance of county parks and libraries.

Another problem is the jail recently peaked at a record 396 inmates, 55 percent above its capacity of 255, said jail director Phil Foot. Kubic and other officials are looking at expanding the facility.

A jail expansion would be expensive, but without one, Kubic has said, safety will become an issue.

Taxpayers are feeling the pinch, too.

Al Hefner, a Beaufort businessman, said Friday he's watched property taxes steadily climb since 2000.

Even though the increases came incrementally, Hefner said, "To the common man who's writing a check, it's real money. I think we're going to see a backlash from this."

How much could taxes rise?

A state law passed last year limits increases to the rate of growth in a county, plus the level of inflation.

That means if a county has little or no population growth in a given year, but has a major unforeseen cost, there's little councils can do but cut services or run a deficit.

Under that formula, Beaufort County can raise property taxes by 5.38 percent this year to cover county operations, according to Tom Henrikson, county finance director.

Henrikson said one school of thought that's emerged suggests counties experiencing big growth years would be foolish not to raise taxes to meet their higher resulting tax rate caps.

"To put a sad cliche on it, you may only get one bite at this apple," Henrikson said.

Councilman Jerry Stewart, who represents Sun City Hilton Head, said by tying a possible tax increase cap to population growth, the state legislature was "basically ensuring that the county and the school district will raise their millage to the maximum every year, (because) if you don't, you're going to penalize yourself in the future when you need the money."

"Everyone's talking about a raise" in taxes, Stewart said. "I don't see how we can get around it."

Looking more specifically at current budget needs, Caporale said, "I think I'm probably one of the most conservative people on County Council in terms of spending and budgeting. (But) if there's a reasonable need and the money's being put to good use, (taxpayers) will support it."

There has also been discussion of using the county's "rainy day fund" of $17.5 million for county operations, but Caporale and other council members say that money should remain set aside for recovery in the event of a hurricane or other natural disaster.

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