COLUMBIA, S.C. - Government debt nearly doubled in South Carolina from 1998 through 2002, giving the state the second-fastest growth rate in the nation, U.S. Census figures show.

The total debt burden rose by 94.9 percent to $10.1 billion in 2002 from 1998, according to the Census figures and an analysis by The Associated Press. Total debt rose faster only in North Dakota, where borrowing and other obligations increased 95.1 percent to $1.7 billion during the same period.

On a per capita basis, South Carolina's debt grew 82 percent to $2,465 per person during the period. That's also the nation's second-fastest growth rate behind North Dakota's 96 percent increase.

The AP analysis was based on an annual federal survey of state government finances. The analysis covers indebtedness from 1992 to 2002, the most recent year for which data is available. The information is compiled by the Census Bureau, which collects the statistics from state government audits, budgets and other financial reports.

The bureau's figures attempt to capture all sorts of state obligations, not just the bonds that governments issue to build schools, bridges and sewer systems. It also includes public debt that might benefit the private sector for pollution control or industrial development.

Some say that measure might be too broad.

Borrowing by the state and agencies currently tops $5 billion, said Rick Harmon, who oversees state bonds for the South Carolina treasurer's office.

The Census Bureau figures appear to include about $6.2 billion in borrowing by counties, special purpose districts and public school systems currently outstanding, he said. "That's not really the state's obligation," Harmon said.

Local governments can go to voters to get approval for substantial increases in debt for projects that include building new schools, Harmon said.

Local borrowing for schools is in addition to nearly $1 billion the state has borrowed since 1999 to repair or build public schools and colleges around the state.

The numbers raise eyebrows.

"Obviously No. 2 in the nation isn't where you want be on this particular ranking, particularly in a state where we're already spending 130 percent of the national average on the cost of government," Gov. Mark Sanford's spokesman Will Folks said.

The Census figures show the state has been too ready to reach for its credit card, state Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom said. "We've seen what I regard as a very unfortunate ramp-up in our overall debt," Eckstrom said.

The state Constitution limits the debt burden by saying payments can't exceed 5 percent of the budget. But lawmakers have repeatedly spent to that limit in recent years.

"It's good to never push yourself to the absolute limit when it comes to access to capital," Eckstrom said.

In just the past couple of years, the General Assembly has passed bills raising the state's debt cap by a half-percentage point for economic development and another half-percentage point for college research programs.

But the state has been prudent with its borrowing, state Treasurer Grady Patterson said. "We watch our debt in this state" and that's helped maintain the best debt ratings with credit agencies, he said.

In a "poor state like South Carolina," leaders "have to borrow money ... to meet the needs of the people," Patterson said.

That's what led him to push for borrowing money to fix or replace ramshackle schools in 1999. To "get out of that terrible situation, you have to borrow money," Patterson said.