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reprint or license thisHorry County elects to take on sales taxes
Coastal voters strongly back roads funding
By Travis Tritten
The Sun News
It appeared to be a long shot but in the end, Horry County residents turned out in record numbers to support a sales tax for road projects.
Strong majorities in the South Strand, Myrtle Beach and Little River approved of the 1-cent tax, which will raise $425 million for roads over seven years, according to unofficial county election results.
Only the Loris area and scattered rural areas in the northern half of the county had a majority of "no" votes, which may have been caused by a lack of projects there and an aversion to new taxes.
The vote broke a decade-long history of rejected Horry County sales taxes. Supporters said it could open the way for more sales-tax-funded road improvements. Both the roads tax and a schools sales tax passed Tuesday, defying predictions that competing referendums were sure to fail.
The Burgess community in the South Strand was a hotbed of support. The Marlowe precinct there had by far the highest turnout in favor of the tax - 1,189 to 389, according to unofficial precinct-by-precinct tallies.
"We are in great need of roads. ... It won't be too long before it's just a parking lot in the whole Grand Strand area," said David Downey, a Burgess resident who voted for the tax at the Marlowe precinct Tuesday.
The sales tax road plan includes widening S.C. 707 from Enterprise Road to the county line, an area just south of Burgess. Nearby Glenns Bay Road will be widened and get an interchange at U.S. 17 Bypass.
Although the plan doesn't include a South Strand hurricane evacuation route - a top concern for the area - Downey said the new sales tax funding will free up the county to focus on getting money for the evacuation highway.
This general election drew an unusually high 41 percent voter turnout, compared to the typical 15 to 20 percent. In all, there were 31,619 votes cast for the tax and 19,873 against it.
Hundreds of voters swamped coastal precincts and in many cases, a large majority approved the roads sales tax.
At the Dunes #1 precinct at 79th Avenue North in Myrtle Beach, the vote was 455 to 171 in favor.
Despite widespread majority support, large numbers of coastal residents voted "no," according to county vote records.
Tom Wise was among the hundreds of residents who waited in a long line Tuesday at the busy Dunes #1 precinct. He said he voted against both a county sales tax for roads and for schools.
"I voted 'no' because at age 80, I don't need any more taxes on a fixed income," he said.
Of 119 precincts countywide, only 21 had majorities voting against the tax. All were in rural, northwestern areas of Horry County, where voter turnout was smaller.
Jerry Housand runs a country store in District 10, where a majority of voters at nine precincts opposed the tax, the highest number of any district in the county.
The district covers a large swath of central and northern Horry County.
Housand said he supported the tax because it will pave roads but most of his patrons, who will pay the tax for purchases at his store, opposed it.
"Money is a little tighter out here than it is at the beach" and the tax will be a bigger burden for his rural customers, Housand said. "I think the people out here just hate any new tax."
Many property tax bills in that area spiked after a reassessment last year and Housand said residents are still feeling the sting. They are wary of green-lighting another tax increase, he said.
"I guess a lot of folks out here just don't want any increase in taxes, whether it be sales tax or property tax or anything," said Kevin Hardee, District 10 county councilman.
Also, many in the northern areas of the county feel they have little to gain from the new tax besides newly paved dirt roads, County Councilman Paul Prince said.
Beyond an Aynor bypass, the three large districts that make up the northern half of the county will get 63.75 miles of paving, according to Horry County's road plan.
District 10 will receive the most newly paved dirt roads from the sales tax - 28.46 miles over seven years.
Prince's District 9 will get 11.78 miles and District 11 will get 23.51 miles.
Contact TRAVIS TRITTEN at 626-0303 or ttritten@thesunnews.com.
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