Local officials and county advocates in Columbia are trying to parse a proposal for property tax relief that's expected to receive final approval in the Senate today, while legislators recognize it's likely not the final plan.

Failing to pull together the votes needed for approval, supporters of a tax swap replacing property taxes with a higher sales tax delayed a vote Monday, hoping those senators absent could shore up support.

"There's a lot of water to cross before we get to the end of this," Sen. Scott Richardson, R-Hilton Head Island, said of the issue.

In February, the House approved a plan that would add 2 percent to the state's 5 percent sales tax to replace almost all local property taxes, short the money collected to pay off local government debt.

After weeks of deliberations, the Senate approved a plan Friday that would add 0.5 percent to the sales tax as a credit toward property tax bills for county operations.

The money from the half-cent sales tax increase would be collected in Columbia and distributed back to counties based on population. The county treasurer would divide that amount among the owner-occupied homes in the county.

The bill also includes a new local-option sales tax referendum option that could be presented to voters to exempt owner-occupied homes from a selected portion of the local property tax bill, including municipal or school district taxes. The sales tax revenues could also provide tax credits for other property, including vacation homes, cars and commercial property. If approved by the legislature, the local-option sales tax plan would be presented at the discretion of the local government.

At about $59 million, owner-occupied homes accounted for less than 25 percent of the property tax dollars collected in Beaufort County last year.

Richardson said the proposal gives equity to all residential property owners and provides local control over the taxing decisions.

"That allows us to deal with our own tax problems and keep the money here," he said.

Sen. Clementa Pinckney, D-Ridgeland, said he could support a half-cent increase in the sales tax, but the local-option sales tax proposal makes it harder for the General Assembly to shift school funding to a level consistent statewide.

Robert Croom, legislative monitor for the South Carolina Association of Counties, said there's still work that needs to be done to make sure the Senate proposal isn't harmful to counties.

Beaufort County Council Chairman Weston Newton said he's asked county officials to review the proposal to determine the impact on the county.

The county is developing a road project list for a 1 percent capital project sales tax referendum but is holding off on bringing it to voters until Columbia provides a clear picture on the new sales tax proposals.

"We've been developing the project list with an eye on Columbia," Newton said. "We need to see what the General Assembly will do."