Second Beaufort County group opposes educational sales tax

Community group Citizens Advocating Responsible Education announced Monday that it opposes the Beaufort County School District’s upcoming sales tax referendum.

CARE questions the district’s enrollment projections, its trustworthiness in the public eye, and its need for the 1-percent educational sales tax, which is estimated to generate about $282 million over the course of 10 years, according to a five-page statement the group released Monday detailing its stance.

The group also cautions that a sales tax would disproportionately hurt the poor and commercial businesses, and criticizes the proposed sharing of about 10 percent of the district’s revenue from the tax with the University of South Carolina-Beaufort and the Technical College of the Lowcountry.

The school district has not finalized the referendum question that will appear on the November ballot.

Still, CARE is the second group to formally oppose the proposed tax. In April, Voters Against Sales Tax rejected the referendum because of its potential impact on tourism and the competing capital improvement referendum being developed for Beaufort County.

This story was originally published May 2, 2016 at 2:23 PM with the headline "Second Beaufort County group opposes educational sales tax."