Voters in 18 South Carolina counties to set their own sales taxes – South Carolina Daily Gazette

COLUMBIA — In addition to electing officials this November, South Carolina voters are also deciding how much they will pay in sales taxes in their county.

Voters are being asked in 18 of South Carolina’s 46 counties — 40 percent — whether they approve of raising their local sales taxes or continuing to pay pennies on the dollar for construction or, in one county, lowering property taxes. In several counties, voters answer questions for an extra two cents.

That’s a higher than usual number of sales tax questions on general election ballots, according to Tim Smith, public information officer for the state Department of Revenue.

South Carolina has a 6% sales tax for the state treasury. (A long list of items exempt from sales tax in South Carolina includes groceries and prescriptions.)

But state law allows counties to collect a few extra pennies on the dollar for local construction, tax breaks or conservation if a majority of voters approve it in a general election. Any additional percentage must be approved individually.

Shoppers in all but three counties — Georgetown, Greenville and Oconee — are now paying at least a penny on the dollar more. (Charleston County has the highest countywide sales tax at 9%, although Myrtle Beach City sales taxes are also 9%, while the rest of Horry County charges 8%.)

But after Nov. 5, Oconee County in the northwest corner of the state could be the only holdout.

Greenville and Georgetown have ballot questions on whether to add local sales taxes.

Greenville, the state’s most populous county, offers an eight-year 1 percent sales tax for road and bridge construction.

Local sales tax issues typically come with a guaranteed expiration date — the extra cent in sales taxes expires after the county collects a certain amount of money or after a certain number of years.

Many of the tax questions on the November ballot ask for permission from voters to keep local sales taxes that are expiring.

Referendums typically require voters to approve the collection of additional taxes for a period of seven to 25 years, Smith said.

But the proposed tax in coastal Georgetown County is an exception.

One of the two local sales tax questions would indefinitely levy an additional 1 percent to reduce residents’ property taxes on homes, vehicles and boats.

If approved, that tax would only be eliminated if 15 percent of registered voters request a referendum to eliminate it and then a majority of voters approve repealing the tax, Smith said.

Sales taxes aren’t the only issues on the ballot.

All South Carolina voters are being asked whether a word in the state constitution should be amended, and some counties and cities have questions about bonds or alcohol sales. One watershed district in Orangeburg County is not up for approval, but for potential dissolution.