It is important for town councils, county councils and school boards statewide to watch carefully the flurry of changes that will be proposed in the General Assembly next year.
If not, they may find themselves sounding like mayors in California, where new Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger axed car taxes on his first day in office. It cost local governments $4 billion in income, and the state has no plan to make it up to them. One mayor called it "draconian, immoral and devastating."
In its meeting last week, the Hilton Head Island Town Council's Intergovernmental Relations Committee zeroed in on a bill being pushed by state House Majority Leader Rick Quinn, R-Columbia. It would use a state sales tax increase to phase out local property taxes for schools. It would phase out vehicle taxes, but promise state allocations to replace that income to local governments.
The bill would preclude local communities from contributing to their local schools. That would not only hurt many very good schools, it would trample the state's Home Rule Act.
The bill would also tie the hands of locally elected commissions, dictating how much taxes they can raise.
It would have a chilling effect on temporary local-option sales taxes that can do a lot to help growing communities, and are always subject to voter approval.
The bill would eliminate a lot of sales tax exemptions and increase the sales tax on vehicle purchases. But while proponents say the sales tax is a fairer and less punitive way to collect taxes, others warn that a balanced tax portfolio including sales, income and property taxes is best.
Kudos to the island committee for starting a conversation on the proposed changes.
This heavy-handed, top-down approach to governance needs to be dissected carefully by local governments. They may ultimately like what they see, but they should all pay very close attention to what the state may do to them.