By Lolita Huckaby
Transportation sales tax finalized; now it’s up to voters
BEAUFORT
Beaufort County Council has finalized details for the 10-year transportation sales tax ordinance which will be on the ballot in November. So with four months left before the voting, let the campaigning begin.
The county engineering staff has set up an informational page on the county’s website – Referendums – Beaufort County One Cent Sales Tax Program (beaufortcountypenny.com) – outlining the proposed spending plan for the $950 million they project will be generated by the extra penny sales tax.
But the county’s wish list has a lot of unanswered questions.
There’s money for sidewalks and pathways, dirt road improvements. But what about that $75 million proposed for “Ribaut Road improvements,” … what specifically are those improvements? The Beaufort City Council members made it clear they didn’t like the idea of roundabouts and narrowed roadways for their section of the 5.5-mile Ribaut Road, but what would that $75 million buy?
The wish list includes $60 million for the “Lady’s Island Corridor Projects” which include projects such as the Beaufort High access road realignment that didn’t get built in the 2018 transportation sales tax referendum. But “improvements to the U.S. 21 mainline,” … what are they?
North of the Broad River (that would include the municipalities of Port Royal and Beaufort and the unincorporated areas such as St. Helena Island, Lobeco, and Dale) is designated to get $30 million to be split while the towns of Hilton Head Island and Bluffton each get $30 million to handle their massive transportation needs.
Beaufort County certainly isn’t the only county to turn to the sales tax option for needed dollars for transportation projects. Jasper County Council is working on getting a similar ordinance on its ballot.
Up the road on U.S. 17, voters in Georgetown County will be asked to approve a one percent sales tax for eight years for road and drainage projects.
In Charleston County, they’re pushing for a half-cent sales tax which they hope will generate $5.4 billion to extend the Mark Clark Expressway, debated almost as much as the Hilton Head Town Council talked about replacing their lifeline, the U.S. 278 bridge. (That project plan was finally approved last Friday after a seven-hour discussion. This was just the design plan … construction is a long way from starting.)
Beaufort County leaders, like other local elected officials, believe there’s not a lot of realistic options to handling the growing traffic congestion the Lowcountry and coastal communities are experiencing.
And the local sales tax, like the existing 6 percent statewide sales tax, doesn’t include food items and (and thanks to the thoughtful actions of the General Assembly this year– no longer includes feminine hygiene products) is primarily paid by visitors versus increased property taxes.
Four months, … that’s how long voters have to familiarize themselves with the sales tax proposal and decide how to vote.
Primary turnout low as expected but November’s coming
BEAUFORT – Speaking of voting, last month’s political primaries are behind us and the party candidates across the board know who their opponents will be in November.
And in case you missed it, Beaufort County voters in that June 14 primary elections, who didn’t have a single local race to consider, did slightly better than the rest of the state. Turnout was 21.8 percent of the approximate 150,000 voters, with Republicans, of course, making up the majority of those that went to the polls.
The statewide average was less than 14 percent, according to the state elections office.
Tsk, tsk. And how much did those candidates – especially Nancy Mace and Catherine Templeton for the First District Congressional GOP nomination and Michael Moore and Mac Deford for the Democratic nomination – spend for their victories?
Legislature finishes with book bans for all libraries
COLUMBIA – FYI, the state legislature has concluded its 2024 session and members have come home to begin campaigning.
Much was accomplished; much was not, depending on who you talk to. A couple of bills which got considerable attention here in Beaufort included:
— Ban on school books: As S.C. Daily Gazette reporter Seanna Adcox told readers in the June 6 edition of The Island News, the “ban” or “new rules” on “age-appropriate” materials slipped into state law quickly and quietly.
Because the elected legislators never took a vote on the State Board of Education’s proposal to restrict books in classes K-12, it automatically was approved at the conclusion of the May 9 regular legislative session.
Despite the efforts of nationally recognized groups like Beaufort’s own DAYLO (Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization) to fight the bans, the Board of Education found a way to get the new restrictions passed. Plus the legislators, who are up for election this year, didn’t have to take a stand for or against.
Adcox’s report was a fascinating explanation on how the Legislature can work, or not work.
— Ban on public library books: While the focus on book bans has widely focused on the local school board level, a proviso was inserted into the state budget during the last days of session to tie state funding to public libraries to the amount of “prurient” material found within their walls.
— Hate crime bill: Despite the efforts of Beaufort City Council, the Port Royal Town Council and other municipalities around the state, the Legislature did NOT pass the “Clementa C. Pinckney Hate Crimes Act,” named for the late state Senator who was murdered along with eight other church members at Charleston’s Mother Emanual Church in 2015.
The legislation, which would have imposed harsher penalties for those committing certain types of crime, was supported by those who pointed out the FBI’s statistics showed a 93 percent increase in the state’s reported hate crimes since 2019 with 110 reported in 2022.
The House of Representatives passed one version of the bill and the Senate, another. Leaders of the two elected groups couldn’t get it together and South Carolina remains one of two states in the country without such legislation.
— Sen. Tom Davis’ medical marijuana bill: After a decade of discussion, South Carolina still doesn’t have legislation which would allow doctors to prescribe cannabis for limited medical conditions. The bill, politely called the “Compassionate Care Act,” made it past the Senate during the past two sessions but did not make it through the House.
The state’s law enforcement agencies still oppose the legislation despite its multiple rewrites. South Carolina is one of a dozen states that does not legalize medical marijuana.
Davis, who now lives in Bluffton and represents the southern part of Beaufort County, says he’ll refile the bill next year.
Lolita Huckaby Watson is a community volunteer and newspaper columnist. In her former role as a reporter with The Beaufort Gazette, The Savannah Morning News, Bluffton Today and Beaufort Today, she prided herself in trying to stay neutral and unbiased. As a columnist, these are her opinions. Her goal is to be factual but opinionated, based on her own observations. Feel free to contact her at bftbay@gmail.com
