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Article published Nov 9, 2003
Sanford's tax ideas need to be part of a complete restructuring

Gov. Mark Sanford has announced some worthwhile changes in South Carolina's tax system, but more change is needed.The state needs to take a look at the whole tax structure, the way we fund state and local governments. We need a simpler tax system that is equitable and provides sustainable funding for education, Medicaid and local governments.The legislature has undertaken such change before, but the drive has always died in a study committee. Instead, we have had piecemeal tax measures like property tax relief for homeowners and the reduction in the assessment rate for vehicle property taxes. This kind of tinkering with the tax system has made it more complicated, less equitable and less sustainable.Lawmakers need to completely retool the way state government funds itself and its subdivisions. And they are starting to recognize that need. Moves are under way again in the General Assembly to restructure the state tax system, spurred, in part, by the continuing lawsuit against the state's method of funding schools.Sanford should lend his weight to that drive to make more meaningful systemic changes in state finances rather than small adjustments.There is nothing wrong with the ideas Sanford espouses. He would lower the income tax rate to spur economic growth. He would replace the lost income tax revenue by raising the cigarette tax and by extending the sales tax to lottery tickets.These are worthwhile proposals. Lowering the income tax would lead to more jobs. There is no reason for lottery tickets to be exempt from the sales tax. And higher tobacco taxes may keep young people from starting a deadly habit.But if the state keeps focusing on these small adjustments to the tax system, itwill ignore the greater changes that are needed.The state needs a more equitable method of funding schools. Local governments need the ability to raise their own revenues. They need flexibility in how they do that without sole reliance on the property tax.The state needs to get rid of some of the loose ends from the Band-Aid tax fixes of the past. For instance, the amount of money put into homeowners' property tax relief and the formula of distributing that money is a perennial topic of debate.The state, like the federal government, needs to scrap a system that has grown more complex and less fair over the years. A complete restructuring is overdue.