Letter: Take a stand for home rule

When I was first elected to Beaufort City Council in 1979, one of my early projects was a study of the business license ordinance. A common trend among city residents was: “It’s the smallest tax I pay, but I resent it most.”

My study recalled Beaufort was in line with the 10 or 12 other towns I reviewed, and council concluded the fee was here to stay. The city of Beaufort’s budget relies on this fee for about 18 percent of its total revenue.

Now, the state legislature is considering having these fees paid to the Secretary of State, with lots of rate changes. The changes, as I understand, will benefit the large income producers, like car dealers, but will hurt the small businesses.

The Municipal Association of South Carolina labored for two years to come up with an amended law to assure cities would not be shafted. A House subcommittee has apparently chosen to trash all of that work and seems bent on, once again, denying true home rule for towns and cities.

And if the legislature cripples this revenue source, guess what the shortfall will cause? Fewer police? Fewer firefighters? Higher property taxes?

I urge everyone to contact their legislators and see where they stand. I do not want to see more taxes heaped on the less fortunate.

This story was originally published February 23, 2017 at 8:22 PM with the headline "Letter: Take a stand for home rule."