The bill awaiting action by the governor would set a 20 percent cap on the amount a property's taxable value could rise during a reassessment.

"Wealthy people would get a break at the expense of poor people, because in poor sections, property doesn't appreciate as much, and the tax rates will go up there to subsidize people living on the beach," said chamber President Hunter Howard Jr. "It's sort of a reverse Robin Hood."

The study says commercial property owners could see the largest tax increases.

According to the chamber, business property and property in lower-income neighborhoods tend to gain less value than other types of property, which is why they would be affected most adversely.

"This may not be the best way to address it, but South Carolinians should not be losing their houses to high property taxes," said Rep. Vida Miller, the Pawleys Island Democrat who was the bill's chief sponsor. "I think making sure that doesn't happen is a moral obligation that we have."

The governor has not said whether he will sign the bill, veto it or allow it to become law without his signature. A spokesman for Sanford said Wednesday that he is reviewing the issue and will consider the chamber's study.

Miller said she hopes the governor will sign the legislation because the legal challenges that likely would follow could force the courts to clarify the options for property tax relief available to the Legislature.

"We would love to have some clarity on this," Miller said. "We really would."The state Supreme Court previously overturned Charleston County's 15 percent cap on assessment increases on owner-occupied homes and ordered the county to pay refunds to real property owners who overpaid.

While it's a mathematical certainty that limiting the taxable value of one class of property shifts the property tax burden to others, the chamber study claims to show the extent of the shift.

The chamber pegs the shift at an average of 11 percent, based on figures from Beaufort, Berkeley, Colleton, Darlington, Florence, Horry and Richland counties.

The study concluded that Berkeley County would have to raise taxes about 11 mills to make up for about $1 billion in property value that would be lost. As a result, 77 percent of taxpayers in Berkeley County would pay higher taxes than they would have paid without the cap, the study said.

County officials have estimated they would need an extra 2 mills of tax if the cap were in place.

In Colleton County, the chamber estimated nearly 60 percent of taxpayers would see higher property tax bills than if there were no cap.

"The chamber has opposed it all along, and I have asked the chamber to come up with a better alternative," Miller said. "Over the years in South Carolina, industries have received considerable state funding, while local governments have received less, and the tax burden has been shifted to the homeowner."

Howard said the chamber believes the state should offer some type of relief to homeowners when their property tax burden reaches a certain percent of their income.

"To give a property tax break based on the value of the property going up, regardless of the owner's income, is just bad policy," he said.

Click here to return to story:
http://www.charleston.net/stories/101404/sta_14taxcap.shtml