‘No’ to school sales tax; ‘yes’ to county

We say “no” to the Beaufort County School District referendums and “yes” to the Beaufort County sales tax referendum that will be on the ballot Tuesday.

The school district is asking for too much — $313 million from a new 1 percent sales tax over the next 10 years.

Never have we urged voters not to support special requests from the school board. And to its credit, this community, which includes so many retirees who could easily look the other way, has traditionally supported school district bond referendums.

But this is different. This time, the request is unreasonable. Precious few of the funds would go to new schools, which certainly may be needed in future years in Bluffton. The school district should go to the public only with imminent needs. Instead, it has come this time with a laundry list of routine school maintenance (roofs and air conditioners) and upgrades to existing schools that in some cases are dubious at best.

And this request comes from a dysfunctional school board that cannot even effectively come to terms with weather makeup days. And from a school superintendent who changed nepotism restrictions to enable his wife to be hired to a newly created $90,000 central office job.

The ask comes in two questions on the ballot. One would enable spending $217 million on schools and land acquisition through the more traditional mechanism of bonds. The other would enable the sales tax, which would mean the projects could begin immediately. And it would offer cutbacks in the school district debt service on property tax bills.

At one time, the school district had money in its proposal for two local institutions of higher education. Not only did it add to the confusion for the board, but it came across as pandering for votes with a grab-bag of unneeded stuff.

Somewhere in all of this lies a kernel of reality. Beaufort County is among the fastest-growing areas in the nation, most of that in the Bluffton and Okatie area where the $65 million May River High School and $25 million River Ridge Academy recently opened.

More capital outlays will be needed. But we urge the school board to return to the voters at a future date with a refined list of real needs.

Beaufort County Council also approved placing a referendum for capital improvements for the Nov. 8 ballot.

The list of projects, which came from municipalities and the county, is not perfect. But the ask of $120 million from a 1 percent sales tax over four years would do a lot of good throughout Beaufort County, and it deserves the public’s support.

The list was vetted by a local commission that did a good job of cutting it way back from a bloated, $221 million list recommended but not placed on the ballot two years ago.

Major improvements would include a parking garage for Beaufort to address a long-running and long-discussed problem. We also like the money to pave 21 dirt roads on Hilton Head and improvements on U.S. 278 in the vicinity of the bridges to the island. New “safe routes to schools” countywide would be a major improvement, and help in stormwater control near the May River in Bluffton addresses a longstanding community goal.

The biggest disappointment on the list is $6.2 million for an arts venue for the Town of Hilton Head Island that has not been planned or approved by Town Council. We are told that money will not be spent if the potential arts venue is not to become a reality.

But the county’s list of projects is reasonable, and so is the dollar amount requested and the term of the sales tax hike.

This story was originally published November 6, 2016 at 6:58 AM with the headline "‘No’ to school sales tax; ‘yes’ to county."