How much of your real estate tax rate goes to Beaufort County schools? It changed this week
Correction: An earlier version of this article said that primary homeowners pay taxes to the school district. It has been corrected to reflect that they are exempt.
This year has been a roller coaster for Beaufort County school property taxes.
In the spring the tax rate increased to accommodate a 7.5% school budget increase from $298 million last year to $320 million this year. On Monday, the County Council approved a reduced tax rate to counter increasing property values, called a millage rollback.
The rate adjustments mean that taxpayers are paying more toward the school district overall, but individual impacts depend on whether individual property values increased during the county-wide reassessment.
Prior to the rollback, the school millage rate was 130 mills, including the 4.4 mil increase this year. Now, the millage rate is 121.8, including the 4.4 mill increase.
“This is one of the larger rollbacks I had seen,” District Chief Financial Officer Tonya Crosby said. She estimates residents will see the change in their tax bill around October.
School board members Elizabeth Hey and Rachel Wisnefski were the sole “no” votes to send the budget to County Council for approval in May.
Here is the breakdown of how the school budget is funded:
- $195,119,038 from tax collections
- $119,077,940 from State revenues
- $650,000 from Federal revenues
- $2,466,000 from other local sources
- $3,100,000 from inter-fund transfers
What is millage?
The millage is the amount per $1,000 used to calculate taxes on property. One mill equals 1/1000 of a dollar or 1/10 of a cent. For example, if the tax rate is 121.8 mills, multiply .1218 by the assessed value (the property value times the assessment ratio) to determine the amount of municipal property tax due.
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In South Carolina primary homeowners are exempt from school operation taxes, according to Act 388 of 2006. However for secondary homeowners, if their assessed value were $500,000, the equation to determine how much tax they’d pay to fund Beaufort County Schools would be: .1218 X 500,000 X .06 = $3,654.
This story was originally published August 29, 2023 at 9:47 AM.
