The S.C. House of Representatives upheld four of Gov. Mark Sanford's vetoes Wednesday, including two bills state Rep. Catherine Ceips, R-Beaufort, had worked hard to reverse.

"I knew it was going to be an uphill fight but I knew I had to support the property tax reassessment cap because I've heard from so many of my constituents that something needs to be done," Ceips said Thursday morning in a telephone interview from her Columbia office.

Both bodies of the Legislature, which began the 2005 session Tuesday, needed a two-thirds vote to reverse the governor's veto of a 20 percent property tax reassessment cap.

But the vote in the House was split 76 to 33, with only Rep. Thayer Rivers, D-Ridgeland, from the local delegation voting on the prevailing side.

Rep. Walter P. Lloyd, D-Walterboro was absent for the vote and Reps. Ceips, Bill Herbkersman, R-Bluffton, and Richard Chalk, R-Hilton Head, voted to override the veto.

Ceips said that although the veto puts an end to the 20 percent cap proposal, she's optimistic the General Assembly will continue its discussion of tax reform.

"I think we'll see any number of bills dealing with the subject coming forth this year," she said.

Beaufort County Council Chairman Weston Newton, who supported the cap, said he was disappointed by the vote to sustain but not surprised.

"It's important that we continue to put the pressure on those in Columbia to do something about tax reform. It's got to be done and it has to be done in Columbia," he said.

The cap would have created a $40 million shortfall for local governments, including the school district, because they all depend on property taxes for the majority of their operating budgets.

A long-term solution to rising taxes must be developed, Newton said.

"From an administrative standpoint, it's good we don't have to deal with the cap, although our staff was prepared to do so. But from a policy standpoint, something has to be done so local governments don't continue this reliance on property taxes," he said.

Newton said he's invited members of the local delegation to a meeting to discuss the county's process for reassessment. That process resulted in the filing of 9,000-plus appeals since the reassessment notices were mailed in August.

Members of the delegation have expressed concern about the process after hearing complaints from constituents who have threatened to file suit against the county, but Newton said the county conducted the five-year reassessment according to state law.

"We're concerned people just don't understand the process," he said.

A second veto upheld Wednesday in Columbia involved legislation to create a statewide military preparedness panel to work with local communities in the event of base closures as a result of the upcoming congressional Base Realignment and Closure actions.

Ceips, who sponsored the bill, said she supported it although it didn't include funding.

"It was a framework to get things done. But I understand and respect the governor's task force," she said. "We all have to work together to protect all our bases."