COLUMBIA -- House leaders say they are happy the Senate has finally done something about property tax relief.

But that doesn't mean they're going to go along with the Senate plan.

"I don't think it will be enough for us," said Rep. Dan Cooper of Piedmont, House Ways and Means Committee chairman.

House Speaker Bobby Harrell also thinks "the House will want more," but he wants to see the plan and talk to senators about it.

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After weeks of debate and a string of slightly revised plans that died by several votes, the Senate on Thursday night voted 32-12 for a plan that would remove county operations taxes for owner-occupied homes valued up to $180,000.

The plan would be funded by a half-cent increase in the sales tax. It also would allow voters in each county to decide whether to provide additional tax relief by increasing the sales tax.

The House plan would remove most taxes from owner-occupied homes and eliminate the state sales tax on groceries. It would increase the sales tax on other items by two cents.

Senators considered various forms of the House plan but killed each one after extensive debate.

If the Senate gives final approval to its plan Monday and then approves the accompanying constitutional amendment, it will be up to a panel of House and Senate negotiators to work out a compromise.

Sen. Vincent Sheheen, a Camden Democrat, suggested to colleagues Thursday that if the one-half-cent sales tax passed, it would ultimately lead to negotiators favoring major parts of the House plan.

Others said that may be why the plan passed with 32 votes.

"I think there were some people in the end that voted for it who felt that way," said Sen. Larry Martin, a Pickens Republican. "The key to the debate now is whether the Senate conferees will be able to iron out a plan that they can sell the Senate."

Some senators were quick to criticize the House plan when it passed in February. And some have said House members have approached them to ask that the Senate not adopt the House plan. But in repeated votes, versions of the House plan came close to passage.

Sen. David Thomas, a Greenville Republican who pushed a plan similar to the House several years ago, said he has no problem with the Senate's plan now and would insist on its adoption.

"This actually more comports with what the original thinking was when some of us where bantering around what possible ways there might be for attacking reassessment," he said.

"I will strongly press upon our friends across the hall that local option is the less expensive way to go to accomplish the same purpose."

But Rep. Adam Taylor of Laurens, assistant House majority leader, predicted the House would not agree.

"I still think our plan is a workable plan," he said.

The negotiations are likely to spill over into attempts to reach a compromise on the budget, Cooper said.

The House included $116 million in its version of the budget to help pay for property tax relief. The Senate spent that amount on other items, dedicating no money in the budget for its tax plan.

Thursday, House Majority Leader Jim Merrill said he thought some House Republicans wouldn't mind leaving without a budget if a property tax plan could not be reached.

The disagreement on placing money in the budget to fund property tax relief will set up a major "sticking point" between House and Senate budget negotiators, Cooper said.

"They will be tied together," he said of the two issues. Harrell said he expects both negotiating committees to work together.

Left undebated by the Senate, Martin said, is what will happen in the future if revenues get tight. Both bills place a cap on local government spending.

"I wouldn't bank money on the Legislature bailing them out," he said of county governments. "But (we) will have assumed that role as the benefactor of every local government in South Carolina. And that is not a good policy decision."