Island Packet endorsement: Our recommendation on the Beaufort County 1% transportation sales tax

On Nov. 5, for the seventh time since 1996, Beaufort County voters will weigh whether to increase their sales tax by 1% for road and infrastructure improvements. Voters rejected such a transportation tax in 1996, 2004 and 2016 and approved one in 1998, 2006 and 2018.

If that history of fail-pass-fail-pass-fail-pass is any guide, voters may reject this latest measure.

If common sense and fiscal conservatism come into play, they should reject it.

The Island Packet Editorial Board recommends a vote against the tax, which seeks too much money over too long a timeframe when the last transportation tax revenue was mismanaged.

Battling criticism for its own financial mismanagement, a beleaguered Beaufort County Council advanced this measure in June to a public vote, hoping voters would agree to raise $950 million over 10 years for a range of projects. Sure, some of the projects would help. Some may even be crucial to the area’s growth. And tourists and visitors would contribute much of the cash.

But voters would be foolish to trust the county with nearly $1 billion of taxpayer money given it is being secretive about five years of its own fiscal shenanigans. A report on the fiscal misdeeds of county officials from 2019-2023 was completed this summer yet a council majority still refuses to release it. There are certain things that should be done before asking taxpayers for more money and showing them you can manage the money you’re overseeing now is at the top of the list.

In June, when the County Council placed the new tax measure on the Nov. 5 ballot on a 9-2 vote, Council member Thomas Reitz explained his no vote by saying this is the wrong time to ask people to part with more of their hard-earned money because inflation is up, average incomes are down and so few of the projects promised in 2018 are even close to done.

Only 12% of the projects — four of 34 — are completed now. Two are in construction; 20 are in design.

In opposing viewpoints published in The Hilton Head Island Packet, former town of Hilton Head Island Council member Tom Lennox said a “yes” vote is “an investment in the safety, economy, and sustainability of our county” and former Beaufort County Council member Steven Baer said a “no” vote would prevent “a 10-year blank check to a list of projects with unknown details and impacts.”

We appreciate Lennox’s perspective. Projects along the U.S. 278 corridor and Lady’s Island corridor are important to the region’s future. But we also appreciate Baer’s perspicacity. Voters should demand these projects be approached in “smaller, more transparent bites,” as he wrote.

Lastly, the measure fails to ensure adequate oversight. It’s recommended that a citizens’ oversight committee be appointed to assist County Council and staff in prioritizing and completing projects. But any oversight committee needs independence and teeth. Otherwise, there is a risk if not a likelihood that the group would become just a rubber-stamp for the council.

Beaufort County voters can send two strong messages to the County Council Nov. 5. They can elect two newcomers Adam Biery and Sarah McCarty — who prioritize transparency and promise to restore public trust in the council — over incumbents Gerald Dawson and Logan Cunningham. And they can reject this tax increase to give the new council a new focus: Devise a better way.

Given more time, the council could surely develop a more detailed plan and protections to give voters more confidence money will be spent wisely on projects that actually get finished before the tax increase’s revenue limit is reached and the proposal for the next tax increase surfaces.

Beaufort County voters should vote “no” on this tax proposal. They should demand the council come clean on its long history of financial misdeeds and come up with a more specific list of projects and a stronger and more independent oversight mechanism.

This story was originally published October 21, 2024 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Island Packet endorsement: Our recommendation on the Beaufort County 1% transportation sales tax."