Beaufort County legislators joined colleagues in the General Assembly to introduce numerous bills to cap valuation of property in the last two sessions. Property owners in Beaufort and other rapid-growth counties are experiencing discomfort in their financial well-being because assessments are soaring and their taxes are rising. They have become malcontents, and legislators are catching the brunt of their anger.
The S.C. Supreme Court has ruled caps unconstitutional because property tax rates have to be based on fair-market value.
The issue isn't dead, and last week the Joint Senate Judiciary and Finance Subcommittees on Property Tax Reform began work to potentially give property owners relief. The panel will hold a series of hearings around the state beginning Aug. 11 in Charleston.
Everyone is welcome to chime in with remarks, according to Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, but the panel especially wants to hear from taxpayers. "While we want to hear from local governments' special interest groups, our focus will be on the people who are paying the taxes (and) the effect tax is having on their lives ... ," he said last week.
While the committee is studying the financial and constitutional implications f potential changes, property owners shouldn't get their hopes up for a financial windfall in the form of relief next in the next year. As long as the provision is in the Constitution establishing that property values must be based on fair-market value, the legislature can't offer relief. Constitutional changes must be ratified by a majority of voting South Carolinians.
But property owners should take advantage of the opportunity to express an opinion to lawmakers next month.