2 potential sales tax referendums at odds over how to fix Beaufort Co.’s traffic problems
Beaufort County residents may vote on two referendums in November that, if approved, would each raise the county sales tax by a penny.
The first calls for a 1-cent sales tax to fund road and bridge infrastructure work in the county.
The second would raise the sales tax to purchase green spaces and promote controlled development.
It’s not an either-or proposition: If one passes, the county’s sales tax would go from the current 6% to 7%. If both pass, the sales tax would go to 8%.
The measures still have a long way to go and need to go through a number of approvals before they get to voters.
On Monday night, the Beaufort County Council delayed a second reading of the transportation sales tax referendum to a future meeting. All referendums must be read at a council meeting three times and a public hearing held before being put on the November general election ballot.
The council must submit the referendum to the state by Aug. 15.
The green spaces referendum has not been introduced yet to the Beaufort County Council, Public Information Office Chris Ophardt said.
Regardless of either proposal, county residents have a history of rejecting sales tax referendums in recent years. In 2021, 2016, and 2013 Beaufort residents voted “no” on 1-cent sales tax increases.
The argument to fix roads
Beaufort County’s transportation infrastructure is in need of repair, officials say. The American Road & Transportation Builders Association’s 2022 South Carolina Bridge Profile reported the Mackay Creek Bridge on Hwy. 278, for example, is the 13th most-used among structurally deficient bridge in the state.
Beaufort County also experiences a large volume of daily traffic. According to the South Carolina Department of Transportation’s Traffic Analysis and Data Application Website:
▪ U.S. Highway 278 from Fording Island Road to Spanish Wells Road has an average annual daily traffic (AADT) count of 57,400 vehicles per day and a weekly traffic count (WTC) of 422,314 vehicles.
▪ South Carolina 170 from Fording Island Road to SC 462 has an AADT of 36,700 vehicles per day and a WTC of 263,343.
▪ SC 170 to Broad River Boulevard has an AADT of 29,100 vehicles per day and a WTC of 208,908.
▪ U.S. Hwy 21 to U.S. Hwy 17 has an AADT of 15,300 vehicles per day and a WTC of 108,168.
The Traffic Advisory Committee recommended the sales tax proposal because congestion will only get worse as more people come to the county, committee Chairman Dean Moss said in an interview with The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
“I’ve been living here (Port Royal) for almost 37 years, and I have watched this community change dramatically over that period,” Moss said. “The number of vehicles that we’re going to be wrestling with here 10 years from now is inconceivable. So, we’ve got to do something.”
The proposed increase would generate $700 million over a decade to pay for projects recommended by the Traffic Advisory Committee. The projections were based on current sales tax revenue, and 2018 revenue generated by a similar 1 percent sales tax increase.
The transportation sales tax referendum would split its projected revenue into two categories: $365 million for a Transportation Improvements Program and $335 million for specific projects. The Transportation Improvements Program will address general road maintenance, safety and infrastructure strengthening, including $50 million for paving 79 miles of unpaved road in the county.
The specific projects include:
▪ $80 million for addressing safety concerns on Hwy 170.
▪ $75 million for updating the U.S. Hwy 21 and US 21 Bus./SC 281 Corridor.
▪ $40 million for the U.S. Hwy 287 corridor improvement project on Hilton Head that calls for replacing the two aging bridges that bring traffic onto the island.
▪ $40 million for Hilton Head Island municipal projects.
▪ $40 million for the Bluffton regional roadway network.
▪ $40 million for the Lady’s Island corridor.
▪ $20 million for Hwy 46 renovations.
Beaufort County Council Chairman Joseph Passiment said in an interview he supports the proposal. Updating the county’s roads is essential for future emergency and evacuation planning if another Hurricane Matthew-like natural disaster occurs, Passiment said.
The transportation sales tax does not apply to food or gas, Passiment said. Beaufort County Director of Engineering Eric Claussen also said rent would be exempt from the proposed tax.
Tourists’ purchases would account for an estimated 40% of the money brought in.
Not everyone sold on the tax
There are lawmakers at the state and town levels who are not sold on the transportation sales tax referendum. Some elected officials are afraid the new tax will pay for projects that will also bring more traffic and more people to the county
South Carolina State Sen. Tom Davis, who represents Beaufort and Jasper counties, co-sponsored the County Green Spaces Sales Tax Act that was passed into law in April.
The legislation allows counties to enact a 1% sales tax if passed by referendum to purchase and preserve green space. Davis spoke at the Hilton Head Town Council meeting June 7 and again June 13 at the Beaufort County Council meeting in support of the green spaces referendum and voiced concerns about the Traffic Advisory Committee’s proposed referendum.
Davis said he is not opposed to the transportation sales tax, per se, but said the county cannot “pave our way out of this” problem. He said his referendum idea better addresses rising building density, population growth in the county, and deterioration of the area’s ecosystem.
“My argument was the way to get at the problem of congestion and over development and the pollution of our waterways is to try to buy up some of those densities and buy up open space — not to build more roads,” Davis said in an interview. “If we simply do nothing and allow the things that have already been approved and the densities that are already on the books, this area is going to be ruined.”
Davis also said implementing the transportation sales tax would dissuade the state from providing future funding for road maintenance projects, such as road paving.
“You’re essentially paying for something twice. So, it’s not a matter of petitioning the state and having the state say no. It’s a question of the need not being there anymore because you’ve gone ahead and addressed the problem with local money.”
Hilton Head Town Councilmen David Ames is also concerned about the transportation sales tax. Ames is not totally opposed to the referendum, but he’s concerned the infrastructure projects will increase construction on the island and reduce green space.
“I’m inclined not to support it (transportation sales tax referendum), unless there is also a commitment not to keep increasing the density on existing land uses,” Ames said in an interview.
Beaufort County Council, though, believes the transportation sales tax referendum already addresses Davis’ and Ames’ concerns.
Claussen, the county director of engineering, said the proposal does take the environment into account, as the plan includes $60 million for “greenbelts” that allow for environmental protection and infrastructure projects.
“We’re making sure that we’re preserving the aesthetic and the beauty of the natural environment as we go through and make these improvements,” Claussen said.
Passiment said the transportation sales tax referendum’s greenbelt provision addresses keeping building density down. He also said there are discussions to split the revenue from the transportation sales tax 90% for road infrastructure projects and 10% for green space preservation to fuse the aims of both referendums together. So there would not be a need for the second referendum.
Claussen said the Transportation Improvements Program was designed to provide funding for smaller projects and create a reserve fund for “future concerns we are not aware of today” so the county won’t be forced to compete with other counties for future state funding and deal with delayed progress.
Being able to raise local revenue makes receiving funding more likely, Moss added.
“If we simply rely upon the state, we’re going to wait a long time,” Moss said. “The idea that if we stand there with our hand out they’re going to come and put money in it, I think is naive.”
This story was originally published June 18, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
