Beaufort Co. Council considers sales tax referendum to save green space from development
The Beaufort County Council is considering adding a green space sales tax referendum to the November ballot, but has delayed action on a transportation sales tax referendum.
The state Legislature in April enacted the County Green Space Sales Tax Act, which grants counties the right to increase their sales tax to purchase undeveloped land and preserve it as green space, if passed by a referendum.
The County Council introduced the green space referendum on first reading at its meeting Monday night. The proposed referendum was not on the original agenda but was added by District 10 Councilman Lawrence McElynn.
State Sen. Tom Davis, a Republican who represents Beaufort County and was a co-sponsor of the state legislation, has been touting the benefits of the green space referendum at County Council meetings and to the Hilton Head Town Council.
Davis again spoke in favor of the green space referendum Monday night and said overdevelopment of available land, which he likened to cancer, could increase traffic problems and impact Beaufort County’s climate if action isn’t taken.
“I grew up in Maryland … and I saw firsthand how the development of the mid-Atlantic watershed there ruined the Chesapeake Bay for generations to come, and they’re spending hundreds of billions of dollars now to try to claim it back, but they’re never going to get a fraction of what it used to be,” Davis said. “We still have something that is more or less pristine, something that can still be saved and preserved … that is being jeopardized.”
The county’s green space referendum originally called for increasing the sales tax from 6% to 7%, but Davis said he was now in favor of only a half-cent increase instead, citing the current state of the economy. Davis added saving the region’s “fragile ecosystem” was worth increasing taxes, despite previously never having voted for a tax increase “in my life that I know of.”
County councilmen were receptive to the green space referendum, and despite concerns about duration and amount of the sales tax, the motion passed. The sales tax percentage that would be on the November ballot was not immediately determined.
The adoption of the green spaces referendum comes at a time when another proposed referendum in front of the council appeared to be losing steam.
The Beaufort County Traffic Advisory Committee earlier introduced a referendum proposal to pay for the county’s lagging transportation infrastructure.
The original transportation plan would also increase the county sales tax by a penny, although gas, groceries, and rent were exempt. The 1% increase would last for 10 years, and the county projected $700 million in revenue if the proposal is enacted.
Funds from the tax would be divided into two groups: $365 million for a Transportation Improvements Program and $335 million for specific projects. The Transportation Improvements Program would address general road maintenance, safety, infrastructure strengthening, and purchasing land to ensure the county’s environment isn’t negatively impacted by over development.
But concerns about the projects the transportation sales tax would pay for and their impact on the county’s environment were brought up by officials. Davis also raised concern at the council meeting about trying to get both referendums passed at once.
District 7 Councilman Logan Cunningham issued a motion to postpone discussion of the transportation tax to a later date, after the green spaces referendum was passed on first reading.
County Administrator Eric Greenway said the council wouldn’t have enough time to get the transportation tax referendum on the November ballot if it did not take up the referendum again soon, and the council agreed to discuss the transportation referendum at the July 11 meeting. The transportation referendum second reading has been postponed twice.
Before getting on the ballot, the transportation referendum must be read and approved three times a public hearing must be held. All referendums must be submitted to the state by August for inclusion on the general election ballot.
This story was originally published June 28, 2022 at 3:03 PM.
