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THE ISSUE: Property taxes

OUR OPINION: The blame game aside, the tax burden is real obstacle

Property taxes: Good reason for critical look

By T&D Staff Writer

Charleston-Berkeley Sen. John Kuhn won't have much trouble getting a host of Orangeburg County residents to buy his reasoning in the "property tax" column on this page today.

Calling property taxes inequitable and killers of progress, Kuhn discusses his push for the elimination of property taxes on owner-occcupied homes and personal automobiles. He would freeze all other property taxes at current levels. He calls for a 2 percent statewide sales tax to replace the revenue.

"The 2 cents sales tax increase will cover local government and school boards for the amount they receive from property tax right now and will increase every year as spending goes up. Our bill dedicates every penny from the tax increase to the local schools and municipalities.

"Why is this better for everyone? Because everyone pays sales tax and everyone pays in proportion to their income level. The less money you have, the less you spend and the less sales tax you pay. What can be more fair than that?"

While there are arguments that can and will be made against Kuhn's reasoning, don't look to hear many of them at tonight's Orangeburg County Council meeting. With tax bills in the mail since the last council meeting, residents are indeed suffering from "sticker shock."

The change in property values from reassessment five years ago, detailed earlier this year in reassessment notices, did not portend the level of tax increase people are seeing. Couple higher property values with a reduction in state property tax relief for the education portion of tax bills and tax increases for the schools and it's been "sticker shock" indeed.

County Council will again find itself bearing the brunt of the complaint burden. But really, council is only responsible for about 20 percent of your property tax bill in Orangeburg County. The school districts and their elected boards of trustees account for three quarters of the tab. Yet there have been no crowds ready to voice their displeasure at recent school board meetings.

This is not to say citizens are not owed answers, but the explanations from elected officials will not be satisfactory for most. There is simply no way to explain to a person why his or her property tax bill should have more than doubled in a year when the owner knows the property could not be sold for the value upon which it was assessed.

It's a heck of a public relations problem in a county such as Orangeburg, which even as it works desperately to develop will find an escalating overall tax burden another obstacle.

In fairness, however, Kuhn's words about efforts on the state level to reduce taxes being countered by irresponsible local government spending are just not a complete picture.

"We are dismayed to see our work has been rapidly eaten away by excessive local government spending. We are even more dismayed to see that your real and personal property taxes are becoming so high that you actually have to sell your homes and buy used cars just to survive. There is little doubt that this is not the kind of government our founding fathers envisioned. Is this what we get with home rule?" the senator writes.

With state dollars for education declining, state mandates on local government and prohibitions on alternative ways for local governments to raise money, there indeed are two sides to the taxing story.

Blame whomever you'd like, but until Orangeburg County finds ways to reduce the property tax burden, we're shooting ourselves in the proverbial foot.