Members of the General Assembly say there’s no lack of will to provide property tax relief. All they need now is a way.

A special House committee charged with crafting legislation to ease local property taxes held its first meeting Wednesday.

The difficult task of the 21-member group is to produce a bill that can get wide support in the House before lawmakers begin budget deliberations.

While lawmakers agree something must be done to address escalating tax bills, there are already sharp divisions over how that can be accomplished.

With many members dead set against a plan that would result in a net tax increase — or a cut to existing state funds — others raised questions about a solution that would merely represent a tax shift.

“It’s impossible for it to be (revenue) neutral,” said Rep. Harry Ott, D-Calhoun. “We’ve got to get over the notion that nobody’s going to pay more and nobody’s going to pay less.”

In a pep talk before the meeting, House Speaker Bobby Harrell emphasized the need for the group to work fast because any proposal involving tax caps or property assessment freezes would require a constitutional amendment.

And that would require a two-thirds vote, rather than a simple majority, in both the House and Senate.

“It’s going to be critical to get this on the ballot in 2006,” said Harrell.

Adding to the sense of urgency is the fact that some members of the General Assembly will have to face angry voters next year if they can’t reach a compromise.

“There’s a level of pain out there over property taxes, and these fellas are going to have to deal with it or pay some prices politically,” said John Ruoff, a lobbyist for the consumer-advocacy group S.C. Fair Share.

A similar Senate committee working on property tax issues has been meeting for weeks. Its members plan to file a bill in November.

Like the Senate committee, House members were encouraged Wednesday to think creatively and not be deterred by sacred cows.

In that spirit, Rep. John Graham Altman, R-Charleston, proposed a controversial approach to solving the issue of how to fund public schools, which rely heavily on local property taxes.

“If schools are a problem, the answer is let’s take them over,” Altman said. “We don’t need school boards. We’re smart enough to run them.”

Several House committee members said they are still jaded over earlier failed attempts to remedy rising property taxes. They do not relish slogging through the issue again without coming to some consensus.

“If we don’t solve it, we’ll look foolish ever going back and talking about property taxes again,” said Rep. Tracy Edge, R-Horry.

Reach Stensland at (803) 771-8358 or jstensland@thestate.com.