Property tax relief is a hot topic in the General Assembly this year, and it will get hotter as more counties experience what Beaufort County just went through -- property reassessment. Soaring property values weren't such good news when it came to tax time.

But a basic question appears to be lost in the shuffle. Why is the legislature fiddling with a local tax? The legislature should leave property tax questions to the people who set the tax rates: primarily county councils, town councils and school boards.

The legislature, after all, tried to give direct relief to local school property taxes and it found it can't afford it. Back in the roaring 1990s, the General Assembly agreed to give the people relief on school property taxes and make up the loss to the school districts with state money. It subsequently had to cap the amount it sent to the school districts or it would have sopped up all the growth in general revenue.

Even with that largess, the General Assembly is still trying to find ways to lower the local property tax. It has tried a cap on assessed values for tax purposes, and a wide array of new ideas are now on the table.

It would be better for the legislature to look at the bigger picture of overall taxation in the state, particularly for schools, and direct the complaints about rising property taxes to the local elected officials who set the tax rate.

State Sen. Vincent Sheheen, D-Kershaw, is proposing a broader approach that the legislature should carefully examine. He proposes using a 1-cent or 2-cent increase in the state sales tax to replace local property taxes for schools. There are a number of options and variables involved, including a proposal to exempt the sales tax on food and axing some current sales tax exemptions.

The public should review the proposals very carefully, particularly if they would prevent local communities from boosting school spending if desired.

But this approach would do more than apply Band-Aids to the real sore, which is a rising local burden to fund schools and other government functions while local governments must rely so heavily on the property tax. As property values rise, this issue gets more emotional. It would be best for the legislature to resist tinkering around the edges and discuss the role of property tax and whether it can bear the burden now placed on it.