AIKEN - With state Rep. Roland Smith standing nearby, Gov. Mark Sanford said Monday that he wants to "tighten up" a law that allows counties to create special tax districts that would generate new development.

The governor spoke specifically about Senate Bill 97 during a news conference at Aiken city hall.

The bill, which was passed into law in June after he vetoed it, led to local backlash against a developer-proposed tax increment financing, or TIF, district in Aiken County. The law essentially gave counties the right to direct taxes from a certain area toward a particular project, something cities could already do. But it also expanded the types of property eligible for the designation.

Mr. Sanford said he also wants to see more precise definitions of such terms as "blighted" and "public use," which he said are often used by government to expand its power to take private property. He said the law resulting from Senate Bill 97 is "not all that clear" on those terms.

In addition, Mr. Sanford said, current state laws allow too many non-elected officials, including those in water districts and on university boards, to seize private property for public benefit. Only local governments, with a direct accountability to the electorate, should have that power, he said.

Mr. Smith, a Republican from Langley, acknowledged that he led an effort in the House to override the governor's veto without fully understanding the law's implications.

"To be honest, I always thought this legislation was simply allowing counties to have the same ability the cities had," Mr. Smith said. He said he thinks the tightened bill Mr. Sanford talked about Monday should "sail through the House."

The law resulting from Senate Bill 97 allowed the FineDeering Development Group to apply for a tax increment financing district on property near Graniteville, where it has plans to build two subdivisions. Nothing in the FineDeering proposal involved government seizure of land.

Developers asked the county council for the designation and a $36.3 million bond issue to help finance the construction of infrastructure there. The bond would have been paid back with tax dollars from new homes, but the developer withdrew the request after significant public opposition arose from people who said the deal amounted to a government-funded gift.

The governor blamed a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June for jeopardizing the private property rights of citizens because it expanded the governmental prerogative of eminent domain. Based on a conflict in Connecticut, the court ruled that public use was a legitimate justification for the seizure of private property for development.

Mr. Sanford said he wants "to keep South Carolina from becoming a horror story."

But Sen. Tommy Moore, a Democrat from Clearwater who is running for governor, says there is no link between the issue of eminent domain and the new TIF law.

"I've never heard anyone else say that beside the governor," Mr. Moore said.

"I didn't write the bill, but I know there was no intention by the author to extend any powers of eminent domain."

He said the Senate plans to introduce legislation to prevent "situations like that in Connecticut from happening here."

Reach J.C. Lexow at (803) 648-1395, ext. 106, or jc.lexow@augustachronicle.com.