A pair of proposals in the General Assembly offering property tax relief needs to be changed or scrapped. They run counter to the state constitution.

Beaufort County legislators have dusted off and massaged a proposal vetoed by Gov. Mark Sanford because it didn't meet the constitutional requirement that all property be assessed and taxed at fair market value.

Rep. Richard Chalk, R-Hilton Head Island, and Rep. Bill Herbkersman, R-Bluffton, have sponsored a bill to cap a property tax increase at 15 percent. For instance, if a taxpayer paid $1,000 in taxes before reassessment, the tax couldn't rise beyond $1,150. The tax is an alternative to the 20 percent cap on property reassessments that Gov. Sanford vetoed.

Soon the full House and Ways and Means Committee will discuss a bill that would lock property values on a home at current assessment until the house is sold unless additions or improvements were added. For instance, if someone buys a home for $100,000, the home would remain on the tax rolls at that value until sold. If the house sells for $200,000 five years later, that would be the new value for tax purposes.

Chalk thinks there is precedent for the cap on tax bills in current law. But both measures appear to run counter to constitutional provisions.

The 15 percent tax cap shifts the burden to finance local government to others. Rep. Thayer Rivers, D-Ridgeland, said the plan doesn't answer the problem of increasing tax bills for other property owners to make up for lost revenue in capping taxes on properties that appreciated greatly in value. The South Carolina Association of Counties shares the concern. The group points out that the South Carolina Constitution requires that property be taxed at a fixed percentage of its fair market value.

Locking property values at the current assessment or selling price ignores the man-date that reassessment must occur every five years.

A state chamber of commerce study released during the 2004 legislative session dovetailed with the findings of a Clemson University study that said the tax burden would be shifted from the wealthy to the middle class and small business owners.

Government leaders need to take a step back and rethink the issue.

One little-discussed ramification of the caps would be the effect on school funding. Data showed that the 20 percent assessment cap would negatively affect 82 of 84 school districts. Only Beaufort and Charleston counties would benefit.

The goal of helping longtime property owners and those on fixed income or in the lower-income bracket to keep their homes is noble. But changes must conform to the state's constitution, which bases assessment and taxes on fair market value.