By Tom Davis
The FY 2023-2024 appropriations bill for South Carolina went into effect on July 1, 2023. This is a fiscally prudent budget that accomplishes three objectives: 1) fully implements tax-cut legislation and increases reserves; 2) focuses on core government functions; and 3) includes appropriations important to my constituents in Beaufort and Jasper counties.
The total general fund revenues for FY 2023-2024 are $12.5 billion; however, the following were deducted from that amount before any appropriations were made:
- $795 million to fund the property tax relief trust and $96.2 million to fund the 2022 income-tax cut; and …
- Increases in general and capital reserves to $715.2 million and $390.1 million, respectively.
These top-line deductions reflect the legislature’s belief that taxes should be kept as low as practicable and that it is prudent for the state to increase “rainy day” reserves as a hedge against economic uncertainties (and to improve our state’s bond rating). Of the remaining amount, statewide priorities were then addressed in the budget that include the following:
- $205.7 million (in addition to $2.5 billion in gas taxes) to SCDOT for improvements to our state’s roads and bridges, including I-95;
- $172.9 million to increase all K-12 teachers’ salaries by $2,500 and raise the minimum starting salary to above the Southeastern average;
- Increases in funding for armed, certified school resource officers; we have gone from 406 SROs in 2018 to 1,170 SROs in 2023;
- Increases in funding for our 16 technical colleges so South Carolinians can get the training needed to fill open jobs in high-demand careers; and …
- Increases in funding for recruitment and retention pay raises for our state law enforcement and criminal justice agencies.
This focus in the budget on improvements to roads and bridges, increases in K-12 teacher salaries, fully deploying SROs, empowering technical colleges, and supporting law enforcement is warranted, as are the increases in funding for health care, corrections, DHEC and social services.
My first budgetary objective is to keep taxes as low as possible and my second is to limit state appropriations to core functions of government. Inevitably, however, a budget will also inevitably include direct appropriations to local agencies and organizations, and our county legislative delegation works to ensure Beaufort and Jasper counties are treated equitably. In this regard, the recently enacted budget includes the following appropriations:
- $10,000,000 to USC Beaufort for a new convocation center;
- $500,000 (recurring) to USC Beaufort for Pritchard’s Island;
- $11,500,000 to TCL for a new workforce development center;
- $1,500,000 to Southern Carolina Alliance for the Jasper port;
- $922,000 to Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park;
- $900,000 to the Port Royal Sound Maritime Center;
- $300,000 to Bluffton-Jasper County Volunteers in Medicine;
- $3,000,000 to Beaufort-Jasper Regional Housing;
- $2,000,000 to Hilton Head Regional Habitat for Humanity;
- $500,000 to the Waddell Mariculture Center for renovations;
- $1,000,000 to Osprey Village for special-needs neighborhood;
- $2,000,000 to the Town of Bluffton for a linear walking trail;
- $1,000,000 to the Town of Port Royal for repairs to shrimp docks;
- $750,000 to Jasper County for a community BMX bicycling track;
- $500,000 to the Beaufort County Sheriff for a crime lab;
- $300,000 to the Town of Hilton Head Island for a bridge study; and …
- $750,000 to assist with relocation of St. James Baptist Church.
That’s a total of $37,422,000 in direct appropriations to agencies and organizations in Beaufort and Jasper counties. For context, when I first started serving as state senator in 2009, these areas received less than $1,000,000. Working as a team, the members of our local legislative delegation have since thoroughly addressed this budgeting inequity.
Again, this is a budget we can all be proud of. It implements tax cuts and increases “rainy day” reserves, focuses on core government functions, and equitably funds local agencies and organizations important to my constituents in Beaufort and Jasper counties. And since members of our local legislative delegation hold more legislative committee chairmanships than any other delegation, these same budget priorities will be achieved for years to come.
Tom Davis represents the people of Beaufort and Jasper counties in the South Carolina Senate.
