COLUMBIA, S.C. - Some lawmakers worry giving tax credits to parents whose children transfer from public schools could create unexpected burdens for the state Department of Revenue, but agency officials say they expect few problems if current legislation is passed.

Legislation in the House that would allow parents paying for school tuition to take a tax credit assigns some implementation and oversight responsibilities to the state agency that oversees tax collection.

The bill charges the agency with creating and issuing receipts to track the use of tax credits. The agency also must investigate allegations of fraud and other violations, as it currently does with other tax credits.

At a hearing on the bill last week, Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, questioned whether the new responsibilities would require the Revenue Department to hire additional staff.

"There are specific responsibilities that the Department of Revenue have under this bill, and my question is whether or not these tasks can be handled by the current staff, or are we talking about hiring more people," Cobb-Hunter, who opposes the legislation, said Monday.

Agency director Burnie Maybank, who said he began talking with the governor's office two months ago about possible financial impact from the proposal, said the bill as written would not require additional staff though some employees may have to take on additional responsibilities.

"We deal with far more complicated and far-reaching legislation than this," Maybank said. "In the broad scheme of things, this would be relatively modest work for the DOR.

"For example, the General Assembly has adopted higher ed tax credits, and we didn't add any staff for that."

The "Put Parents in Charge Act," one of Gov. Mark Sanford's top legislative priorities, allows parents paying for private school tuition to take a tax credit equal to 51 percent of what the state spends on a per-pupil basis. Based on the state budget the House passed this year, the tax credit would be $2,190 per child. The bill is up for public comment in a House subcommittee this week.

Bill Gillepsie, the state's chief economic adviser, said a fiscal impact study on the legislation has not been completed. He did not say whether it would include analysis about Revenue Department staff needs.

"I'm sure Burnie's aware as to what's being said about this," said Rep. James McGee, R-Florence, who supports the bill. "If he thought it was going to be a huge administrative issue, I'm sure he would have somebody up there asking for that cost to be part of the fiscal impact."

Cobb-Hunter said the Revenue Department already has an increased responsibility to collect back taxes this year. Last year, legislators gave the agency an additional $9 million in state funds as part of a deal with Maybank, who promised to bring in an additional $90 million in tax collections. State budget writers used the extra money to fill gaps in the state budget.

"We already have the Department of Revenue obligated to recovering all this lost tax money, you know, the Maybank Money," Cobb-Hunter said. "I'm not interested in having staff diverted from collecting taxes to this new operation, Put Parents in Charge."

The agency, which now has about 600 employees, hired an additional 100 staffers to step up collection efforts, agency spokesman Danny Brazell said. The agency is on target to collect more than the promised $90 million.