The proposals -- which range from minor tweaks to complete overhauls -- could completely change the scope of property taxes.
State law requires counties to reassess property countywide once every five years and allows counties to choose to delay that by one year. The law also requires that in a reassessment year, every government that receives revenue from property taxes -- counties, schools, cities and towns, fire districts and public service districts -- must reduce tax rates to match the higher land values. Local governments aren't supposed to reap a windfall from a higher reassessment.
When Beaufort County reassessed the value of every property in the county last year for the first time since 1998, many properties' values doubled or tripled, and some property owners found their assessments increased by up to 800 percent.
Beaufort County property owners have complained that while their property values increased, the tax rate didn't fall by a similar proportion. Thanks to residents' complaints, the County Council is set to receive a staff report Monday on where property values increased and decreased within the county.
"Everybody can expect taxes to go up ... because services have gone up," said Rep. Bill Herbkersman, R-Bluffton. "But for some (tax bills) to go from $10,000 to $20,000, and some have taxes at $350 and are going down" doesn't make sense.
Last year, the state legislature passed a bill that would have limited increases in a property's taxable value at 20 percent. But Gov. Mark Sanford vetoed the bill, saying it violated the state constitution's requirement that property be taxed at its actual value.
Some of this year's proposals that would tweak the existing system would require a referendum for a change in the property tax rate. Another bill would repeal the law that allows governments to raise the tax rate to adjust for the cost of living.
In terms of major changes to the system, one of the most popular ideas would end the requirement of a reassessment every five years and only change a property's taxable value when it is sold. Supporters say the point-of-sale system would give owners a more consistent plan for their property taxes. But opponents worry that under that system, neighboring properties could have wildly different assessment values, depending on whether one had been sold recently.
One idea would take the governor's proposal to offer income tax credits to parents of students who attend private school or are home-schooled and expand the tax credits to include property taxes.
Another bill would look to limit portions of property tax that go toward schools and replace it with a larger sales tax.
Rep. Richard Chalk, R-Hilton Head Island, has filed a bill that would limit increases in tax payments on a given property at 15 percent. He said his bill "is designed to protect people from being taxed off of their property because of a reassessment."
Beaufort County Finance Director Tom Henrikson said putting a ceiling on each individual's tax payment would create headaches for the county and other local governments in trying to set a tax rate.
"You end up taking the highest increase in the county and computing the (tax rate) so that that highest increase is limited to 15 percent, and the large majority of people below that would get a tax decrease. That means we'd have less money," Henrikson said. "It could be very difficult to implement."
But Chalk said people were confused about the impact of his bill.
"(My bill) doesn't try to limit the (tax) rate ...," he said. "It deals with how much of it is going to have to be borne by taxpayers that have been on the same property for a while."
But Chalk and Herbkersman say most bills that could deal with the future won't help Beaufort County taxpayers who had to deal with an unfair reassessment last year.
That's why Herbkersman has filed a bill to allow counties that reassessed in 2004 to throw out their updated figures and use the previous year's property values. It's intended as a one-time stopgap measure until the General Assembly can overhaul the system completely.
None of the bills that would overhaul the system have received a hearing, and all appear far away from approval at this point.
The governor appears satisfied to sit on the sidelines for the property tax debate, preferring to focus instead on reducing the tax rate for the state's highest income tax bracket, which includes nearly every full-time worker.
That highest tax bracket currently is for people who make at least $12,650 a year; those earnings are taxed at a rate of 7 percent. The governor has proposed lowering that tax rate in small annual increments until it reaches 4.75 percent. The House has approved the income tax cut; it now is pending in a Senate committee.
Sanford spokesman Will Folks said the governor would listen to ideas on reducing property taxes but wanted to keep focusing on reducing income taxes.
"We're open to any tax proposal that folks want to put on the table," Folks said, "but it's got to be something that's going to create jobs and spur economic development in South Carolina."