PICKENS -- Local school district officials fear their district and others across the state could face budget shortfalls if the property tax reform proposed by the state legislature passes.

Shirley Jones, Pickens County school board chairwoman, said she's concerned that the state is trading a stable tax base for a more variable one.

"If we have a downturn in the economy like we had a few years ago then we are going to be facing not having enough money to run the school district," Jones said.

Various Senate and House committees are discussing swapping the school operations property tax with a 2-point hike in the state's existing 5 percent sales tax.

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No plan discusses eliminating property tax completely, according to Sen. Larry Martin, R-Pickens. To raise the $4.2 billion collected in property taxes across the state would require a 14-cent general sales tax, which is "unacceptable" to Martin.

The discussion of the proposed tax trade was at the forefront of a school district sponsored breakfast revolving around the year's needs and challenges on Thursday. Both the district administration and the Pickens County Delegation attended.

The meeting comes just two months after voters in Pickens County overwhelmingly rejected a one-cent sales tax that would have been used to help fund a facilities upgrade across the district.

Rep. B.R. Skelton, R-Six Mile, said he opposes the tax changes because it shifts the tax burden away from the more affluent to those in the middle and lower classes.

"If there were any way that I could sidetrack this train that's coming rolling down toward the legislative session, I would do so," Skelton said. "And I'm going to do so."

Rep. Rex Rice, R-Easley, said if property tax is swapped for a higher sales tax then the educational system in the state needs to be restructured. He said the state should do away with district school boards and break the state school system into council districts with about 15,000 students per district.

Voters would then choose council members and chairpersons for those councils and each chairperson would serve on a state council.

"We can look at the budget they had last year and project forward what they need next year," Rice said. "But if you go 20 to 30 years down the road, the budget is going to change a lot. And I don't think we can project, at the state level, what each district needs to do. I think we need to look at funding statewide."

Because of the uncertainty about what will happen with property taxes, the school district is forced to work slowly to address the existing facility needs.

Superintendent Mendel Stewart said he wants the state to raise the current debt limit from 8 percent of the assessed value of property in the county to at least 10 percent, a move that would allow for making improvements to aged school buildings in the county.

Jones said there are still too many unanswered questions surrounding the proposed property tax revisions.

"There is so much to work out, I just hope they won't do it until they have really ironed all the details out," Jones said.