Could Hilton Head get a new bridge, more lanes? What to know before voting on sales tax

If you’re voting in Beaufort County on Nov. 6, you’ll be asked about a sales tax increase that could fund a new bridge or more lanes to Hilton Head Island and other transportation projects in the county.

The ballot question is dubbed the “Beaufort Penny Referendum,”and is a “one percent sales tax increase that will be used towards repairing and installing roads, bridges, and sidewalks in Beaufort County, SC for four years,” according to the county’s website.

A similar referendum failed in 2016.

Beaufort County leaders said that 54 percent voted “no” on the tax increase because the county was in an “anti-tax mood” in 2016 and voters felt “overtaxed and underserved,” the Island Packet previously reported.

Former Beaufort County administrator Gary Kubic called the 2016 referendum a “shotgun approach rather than a more focused shot.”

After two years of refining, here’s a breakdown of some of the most common questions about the 2018 penny referendum:

What is the tax?

The tax is a “one percent sales tax increase” on all taxable purchases made in Beaufort County, according to the referendum.

The county estimates that half of the money raised from a sales tax increase would be paid by tourists, and the other half by residents.

What will the transportation tax money be used for?

If passed, the referendum would raise $120 million for transportation projects across the county, including:

• $80 million for projects on Hilton Head Island
• $30 million for a corridor project on Lady’s Island

• $10 million for county sidewalk and pathway improvements

Specifically, SCDOT has identified the U.S. 278 corridor project and improvements to the Lady’s Island corridor between Woods Memorial Bridge and the Chowan Creek Bridge.

The U.S. 278 project is currently undergoing a planning and environmental assessment to determine the potential alternatives for the Hilton Head Island bridge and corridor running from Moss Creek to Squire Pope Road.

The state estimates that the U.S. 278 corridor project will cost about $240 million, according to SCDOT. Funding for the project will come from SCDOT and the State Infrastructure Bank (SIB), but Beaufort County must bring local dollars in order to secure funding, Hilton Head Island assistant town manager Josh Gruber said.

“(The SIB) will be reluctant to hand over a big pile of money without any local funds,” Gruber said.

That’s where the $80 million from the transportation tax could act as “leverage” for Beaufort County, he said. Gruber said officials feel pretty confident that the SIB would match a local contribution to fund the project.

Could this mean a new bridge or more lanes for Hilton Head?

County officials have previously mentioned widening the bridge to Hilton Head to six lanes as part of this project.

However, SCDOT has not completed the assessment which will develop and analyze alternatives.

This means that widening the bridge or building a new one could be options, but neither have been formally suggested by SCDOT yet.

When asked about whether this project could mean a new bridge or more lanes, Gruber said SCDOT is “studying all options at this point, and nothing is off or on the table for consideration.”

The environmental study will conclude by giving options, which will be presented to the public at an informational meeting in summer 2020, according to SCDOT’s project website.

After the public informational meeting, SCDOT says it will use public comment to develop a “preferred alternative.”

The public comment window closed on Oct. 12, but SCDOT will hold a public hearing in fall of 2020.

Meanwhile, the Town of Hilton Head Island approved a road widening measure on Jenkins Island earlier this year. Gruber said that project will still continue because it addresses safety concerns along the Hilton Head bridge.

“That project is going to have to be incorporated into the full project,” Gruber said of the Jenkins Island and SCDOT projects going on at the same time.

When would the tax end?

The referendum language states that the tax would end either after four years or when the tax raises $120 million.

What will happen if the referendum doesn’t pass?

In short, the construction projects will be smaller and done over a longer period of years.

“The issues that we’re seeing in the Lady’s Island corridor and U.S. 278 corridor are issues that are not going to go away,” Gruber said. “If we don’t finance improvement through the sales tax, we’re still going to have failing traffic networks that we’re going to have to do something about.”

Gruber said the county will have to fix the bridge “one way or another.” If the referendum does not pass, he said the county will need to fix problems with the corridors that will “progressively get worse.”

SCDOT has set aside $40 million for the U.S. 278 corridor improvement project, and if the referendum does not pass to provide local money, that $40 million will be used to improve one bridge out of the four that lead to the island: the eastbound lanes over Mackay Creek between the Moss Creek area and Pickney Island.

Gruber said that span would be repaired or replaced by SCDOT with the existing funds, and that process could mean closing down half the lanes for “several years” at a time while working to repair the bridge supports.

On Lady’s Island, he said construction projects would be done one-by-one over a longer span of years.

Why do these construction projects now?

SCDOT says there’s been an 8 percent increase in traffic along U.S. 278 since 2017, and the Mackay Creek Bridge has been called “structurally deficient” by the department.

“We have to keep this issue moving forward because the one span of these four bridges is at the end of the span of its useful life,” Gruber said.

Who is on each side of this referendum?

Several groups have publicly supported the penny referendum. Among them, the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce, Citizens for Better Roads and Bridges, the Coastal Conservation League, the Sea Island Corridor Coalition and others.

At the State of the Region event on Hilton Head last week, the chamber distributed pro-referendum materials to the audience. The chamber has announced support on its Facebook page.

Citizens for Better Roads and Bridges formed a campaign called “Say Yes! To the Penny,” to advocate for the referendum and educate county residents on its purpose.

“You’d be surprised at how many people aren’t aware of this,” said David Johnson, a member of the group.

Some opponents of the referendum say that improvements to the bridge would kick native islanders off their land, which surrounds U.S. 278, in order to add lanes. People shared those concerns at a Gullah-Geechee Cultural Preservation meeting in September.

Others have spoken against the referendum, including some in letters to the editor of the Island Packet.

“To stop this cycle of endless development and hold onto what little bit of paradise we have left, I’m voting “no” on the sales-tax referendum,” Don Wright, a Beaufort resident, wrote in his letter.

How can I be sure I can vote on this issues?

If you’re a resident, check your registration, polling place and ward information here.

Follow the Island Packet’s election center for the latest information on candidates, referendums and news.

This story was originally published October 30, 2018 at 2:27 PM.