PAWLEYS ISLAND - A greater portion of property taxes are increasingly being shifted to homeowners as the state grants more tax breaks to some groups, state Rep. Vida Miller said Thursday.

"The American dream of homeownership is being jeopardized through property taxes," she said.

Miller, D-Pawleys Island, spoke at a lunch meeting sponsored by the Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce, describing her bill that proposes to cap tax increases that result from spikes in property values.

The bill may not be perfect, Miller said, but she hopes it spurs dialogue about "the inequity of tax shifts" and how to reform the system.

Her bill aims relief at property, especially along the coast, that is increasing rapidly in value. When it is reassessed every five years, taxes based on the rising values can double or more.

The change would not just relieve wealthy people who own beach property, Miller said, it would help those who are less well-off but who live on land their families have owned for generations.

They should not have to lose their land just because they can't pay the taxes, she said.

But legislators are also responsible for the tax shift to homeowners because of tax breaks for business, Miller said.

Also, increases in tax breaks for residents older than 65 have also shifted more taxes to younger homeowners, Miller said.

Tax exemptions for the year total $1.258 billion, she said, and that money is made up by homeowners.

Her tax cap would apply statewide, unlike a law that allows counties to limit tax increases to 15 percent. That law was ruled unconstitutional because of the way it was handled in Charleston County.

In Charleston, "it's created a class-warfare situation," said Marty Tennant. He asked how Miller can justify giving tax relief to wealthy people and passing the burden to the middle and working classes.

Miller said all tax laws have inequities but that everyone has an equal chance to have their tax increase limited to 15 percent.