Halt reassessments to ease owners' burden

Even though the S.C. General Assembly can legally increase homestead exemptions to homeowners older than 65 with a simple majority vote, the financially strapped state must pay a local government for any exemptions it gives for property tax relief. This seems unlikely. Simply stopping periodic tax reassessments on properties qualifying for a homestead exemption would provide property tax relief without requiring the state to pay more [to local governments]. By state law, a locality's total revenue cannot be affected by periodic reassessments.

Stopping periodic reassessments on all real property - including commercial properties - appears to be a legislative power allowed by the S.C. Constitution. This last should be supported by businesses, as it would give them the ability to more accurately forecast their expenses. Stopping periodic reassessments on all real property could also be used as an emergency measure while trying to stop them on particular property classifications, such as homes qualifying for the homestead exemption or all owner-occupied homes - stopping these would likely require a lengthy constitutional amendment process.

Gov. Mark Sanford vetoed a bill to cap periodic property reassessment increases at

20 percent, but to quote The Sun News on Dec. 18: Sanford said he would work with legislators to find other ways to ease the burden on taxpayers. He suggested assessing property at the time of sale, saying it would protect owners who have had properties in their families for years while still meeting the fair market value requirements."

This implies that he would support stopping periodic reassessments, but it is not clear whether he would support stopping reassessments on owner-occupied homes, homes with owners qualifying for the homestead exemption or only stopping periodic reassessments on all property classifications - until [the properties in question] are sold or substantially improved.

I favor stopping periodic reassessments at the state level, period. For popular agreement, phrasing such as freezing property assessments until a property is sold might more clearly state the issue and garner more votes. Localities should be required to limit millage increases to increases in the Consumer Price Index or, at most, 3 percent per year - whichever is less.

The General Assembly should repeal the current impact fee statute and cap impact fees to a proposed development's prorated share of a locality's nonrecurring debt, including the full value of approved school bonds plus their debt service.

Horry County has soundly defeated any previous attempts to impose a local option sales tax even for property tax relief; this does not bode well for either a local option or a constitutional amendment (if required) for an increase in sales taxes statewide. Although our visitors would pay a good portion of the sales tax collected, Horry County's property tax relief due to a sales tax increase would be diluted significantly after the state reapportions the sales taxes allocated to individual counties.