FLORENCE -- Most Florence County taxpayers can expect their taxes to increase if a state bill placing a 20 percent cap on property value increases during reassessment years is approved, Florence County officials said.

County administrator Joe W. King explained that 82.42 percent of taxpayers, equaling 62,802 property parcels, would experience an increase if Gov. Mark Sanford gives his blessing to the measure.

It's a touchy situation for the nine counties, including Florence and Darlington, involved in some stage of the reassessment process, especially in instances where reassessment notices have already been mailed to property owners.

Very few would benefit, King added, if the 20 percent cap went into effect, with only about 15.2 percent seeing a decrease, which amounts to 11,585 parcels. About 2.38 percent of taxpayers would likely see no change.

Kevin Yokim, Florence County's finance director, said the county finds itself in a financial catch-22 no matter what happens.

He said it would likely cost about $25,000 in additional computer programming fees to compensate if the county is forced to institute the 20 percent cap or delay reassessment altogether until next year.

Additionally, delaying also means new reassessment notices would have to be mailed out next year, costing an additional $50,000 in forms and postage, Yokim said.

However, King said, delaying might be the only viable option, especially if the cap is approved.

"I don't think we have a choice other than to delay because of the uncertainty," he said.

"I don't want to. But if we go forward with reassessment and we issue the notices without the cap, then we're going to have to go back and recalculate everybody and issue refunds."

Whether the county's actual millage rate goes up as well will have to be determined by Florence County Council.

"I don't see us raising our millage, but we won't be rolling it back either," King said.

"Politically, a 20 percent cap sounds pleasing, but it's a cap on assessed valued that doesn't necessarily relate to a cap on taxes. It's penalizing an overwhelming majority of people."

Meanwhile, there's talk that the whole issue might eventually wind up in court and be challenged on its constitutionality.

Richland County is delaying its assessment, as well as inviting the other eight counties to join them in a class-action lawsuit on the matter.

Several representatives of counties involved in reassessment met last month in Columbia with the S.C. Association of Counties to get the lowdown on the ramifications if a 20 percent cap went into effect.