Schools need TIF money
The Beaufort County Board of Education wants a penny sales tax to pay for a new school and school repairs. At the same time, it continues to give up millions in property tax revenues to the Town of Hilton Head Island through tax increment financing, which pays for bike paths, parks, roads, sewers and USCB’s island tourism campus.
The school district also surrendered millions of tax dollars through TIF for the USCB campus on U.S. 278 in Okatie.
Until the USCB island project came along, TIF was set to expire in 2016. Town officials, with cooperation from County Council, got it extended another decade to raise $50 million for more town projects, including the campus and Coligny-area projects.
Why is the school board complicit in taking money from K-12 education and putting it toward projects designed by the Hilton Head Town Council?
TIF also takes million of dollars from the South Island Public Service District.
Why anyone thinks reallocating tax dollars collected for K-12 students for projects lobbied for by those not interested in these students’ education is beyond comprehension.
Superintendent Jeff Moss and the school board should seek a way to end this thievery from the kids who live in Beaufort County. Hilton Head Mayor David Bennett should support them in this effort. Or is Bennett planning to use TIF money for the symphony’s proposed performance center?
Bennett’s visioning project will show its true colors if its crystal ball shows the town continuing to pilfer the future of Beaufort County’s students.
John Dreyer
Hilton Head Island
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This story was originally published November 18, 2017 at 3:07 PM with the headline "Schools need TIF money."