If state lawmakers need a reason to change the property tax system, they found more than 200 of them Thursday evening at a public hearing in North Charleston.

The Senate panel studying various proposals to curb escalating tax bills heard from people such as Oliver Barnes of Colleton County, who said he is still working at age 80 so that he can pay his property taxes.

And still more such as Bob Currin of Edisto Island, who worries he might get taxed out of his home. Currin asked lawmakers to eliminate property taxes entirely in favor of a higher sales tax.

Mike Murphee of Pawleys Island said a McDonald's in his area is now appraised at $1.2 million.

"There must be a special sauce being spread on that site," he said.Even a good number of public officials sounded off against tax rates they partially control. Some wanted to limit reassessment or cap future increases, which would diminish the revenues at their disposal.

"I wouldn't be able to move out to Seabrook Island right now if I wanted to," said the town's mayor, John Dubois.

But the overflow crowd in a large Trident Technical College classroom didn't favor one solution more than another. They just want something done -- and now.

"The main message we heard is that if we replace property taxes or lower them, we have to make sure they can't roll it back up in a few years," said Sen. Glenn McConnell, a Charleston Republican who is co-chairing the property tax subcommittee.

The gripes, though repetitive, were exactly what lawmakers wanted to learn during the first hearing in a statewide tour that seems to be as much public relations as it is policy research.

The mostly coastal residents who spoke are the ammunition behind any forthcoming legislation. Lawmakers will have a harder time in the Midlands and Upstate, where the increases aren't as extreme.

"We have to sell the rest of the state and it's a hard, hard sell," said Sen. Robert Ford, D-Charleston, before the meeting.

Listening to the personal stories worked on Sen. Larry Martin, a Republican from Pickens.

"We have somewhat of an outcry in the Upstate, but we don't have this share of staggering increases that has been seen all over down here," he said. "That was the most impressive thing to me."

Stewart Flood, a former chairman of the city of Charleston Republican Party, said increasing the sales tax to compensate for lower property taxes places a burden on residents statewide, not just those along the coast. "I don't think this thing is going to fly statewide," he said. "We can't put our costs on the backs of poorer counties."

For all the residents like Flood who attended, many more, such as Jack Simmons of Charleston, couldn't make it to the hearing. He lives downtown in a home owned by his family for 59 years. But sometimes it doesn't feel that way.

"As long as you allow the government to tax your home, you don't own it," he said.

PROPERTY TAX PROPOSALS

The Senate panel is considering the following four proposals:

-- Limiting property tax assessments according to the percent of inflation or 1 percent of fair market value of the home.

-- Allowing reassessment only when a home is sold, given as a gift or has significant improvements made to it.

-- Eliminating property taxes partially or entirely by increasing the sales tax by 2-1/2 percent or more. Property tax rates could be reduced by finding another funding source for education.

-- Imposing a cap on property tax rates or prohibiting increasing rates without a public referendum.