Sound approach being taken to funding sales tax project
If you live in Greenwood County, you can expect to pay more taxes after the November election. You can also expect people in neighboring counties will be paying more in taxes when they are in your home county.
Come November, Greenwood County voters will be given an opportunity to vote on a capital project sales tax. If approved by the voters, the penny tax will be applied toward funding a prioritized list of special projects identified by a locally appointed commission.
This penny tax is similar to the one that put dollars in the bank to make federally mandated upgrades to the Buzzard Roost Dam at the south end of Lake Greenwood. While that money remains set aside to fund the project once the county and feds agree on the details. But the penny tax was also applied to funding the construction of the county’s new library.
Those projects were lumped together by the county council, put before voters by way of referendum and approved. In less time than needed, the county had the dollars it needed and the penny sales tax rolled off.
This year, a more comprehensive study effort is being applied to identify and determine what projects will be on the referendum. The city and county have teamed to build five comprehensive study committees that will then bring their recommendations before a larger committee. On Friday, the members and chairs of the five teams were announced. They represent the key areas of economic development, infrastructure, parks and recreation, public safety and quality of life. Each committee has the task of reviewing applications for various projects that would potentially be funded by the sales tax.
Much work lies ahead in the coming weeks and months as these committees, which consist of people knowledgeable in and devoted to their particular areas of study. The committees, as spelled out in Saturday’s news story, are also diverse and representative of the city and county population. These are not “feel good” committees. These are people who genuinely care about Greenwood County and its future.
Another tax? Yes, but it is a temporarytax that is also about as fair as a tax can be. We already know there are many areas of need identified within the greater community. Some residents would argue the point of need versus want, or now versus later. But the committees will help in that regard. They will closely review the projects, assign priority status and make presentations. The overall committee will then undertake a similar review process before determining what is put before voters, and the voters will, of course, have the final say.
How can we improve the county’s quality of life, for example? Will another park be what serves residents well? Or is public safety, such as an enhanced and revamped fire response structure, a more immediate need? When you consider the five-prong approach the city and county are undertaking, it is easy to see that a good many wants and needs will be put before the committees, and one can — even should — expect that exhaustive work and study will have been applied before the referendum is drafted.
In short, we fully expect that a solid needs list will have been identified.
What is important to remember is that the burden of funding whatever projects lie ahead will be shared equally among those who make purchases in the county. A penny sales tax means not only are residents helping put dollars in the coffer for projects that will enhance their county, but also those who live outside the county and who shop here.
The anticipated revenue the tax will generate, between $9 million and $9.53 million each year, is no chump change. And the projects themselves will not be without sizable price tags. Thus, it is far better that we can rely on the spending of others to help raise those dollars to improve our own county, a county that, we remind you, those others also come to enjoy.
Originally Published by Index-Journal on: Jan 17, 2016