Beaufort Co. transportation tax: Citizens group to say how much money, where it will go

Beaufort County plans to delegate the details for a 2022 transportation tax referendum to a citizens committee it will appoint next month. The committee will recommend which projects would be priorities, how much the tax would be and for how long.

The County Council, which approved the plan last week, expects to recruit committee members by Feb. 11. The committee should complete its recommendations by April 29.

The last time an increase in sales tax was placed on the ballot, in 2021, it failed by a large margin — 72.5% of voters opposed the tax, according to unofficial results on the South Carolina Election Commission site.

Beaufort County recently halted a transportation sales tax on Jan. 1 that voters had approved in 2018, saying the tax had raised the $120 million expected. The 2018 tax added a penny to the 6% sales tax to raise $80 million for traffic improvements along the U.S. 278 corridor to Hilton Head Island, $30 million for work on Lady’s Island, and the remaining $10 million for sidewalks and paths.

Beaufort County Council agreed Monday to create the citizens advisory committee: one person from each of the 11 districts, appointed by each council member, and one person from each of the six municipalities.

According to county spokesperson Chris Ophardt, the six from the municipalities will be appointed by each town/city government. This can include the mayor, town manager, or someone from the transportation department.

The process has Assistant County Administrator of Engineering Jared Fralix as lead Beaufort County staff person on the committee.

“Having Jared on this committee is more valuable than anything else we have in this room,” District 7 Councilman Logan Cunningham said. “He is well versed in every single area in this district when it comes to the roads.”

Cunningham said he openly opposed last year’s sales tax because it would’ve put them “in a bind” when the transportation sales tax was proposed this year.

“Here we are today, trying to cram this in as fast as possible, because I do think 2022 is the right time to do it,” he said.

Although the vote to create the citizens advisory committee was approved, not all council members favored it. Some said it was too soon after last year’s referendum failed to try to pass a new one.

“I think our timing is off,” said District 1 Councilman Gerald Dawson. “I think us coming forward in 2022 is rushing. I would prefer for us to push it out to 2024.”

Stu Rodman, council member from District 11, liked the idea of a citizens committee, but suggested the process should have multiple things happening at one time to move it along faster.

“We’re already late in the game,” Rodman said. “I don’t see how we can actually digest something that’s the biggest referendum in the history of Beaufort County in a very short period of time.”

Cunningham said the only way to get the support of the community on such short notice is to establish the committee.

“We have to hear from all different likes, every organization we possibly can, to try to get the support of the community and get it passed,” he said.

The citizens committee would send its recommendations to the Transportation Advisory Group, then to the Public Facilities Committee, then to County Council for consideration, adoption and/or revision for a possible referendum.

This story was originally published January 31, 2022 at 4:28 AM.