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Article published Oct 19, 2004
Property tax isn't popular
Alexander
Morrison
Staff Writer
Neither state Sen. John Hawkins,
R-Spartanburg, nor his Democratic challenger, Leonardo Ortiz, likes the property
tax man.The question is who hates him more and who hated him first.Last year
Hawkins co-sponsored legislation to eliminate property taxes on homes and cars
by increasing the state sales tax by 2 cents per dollar. He said the sales tax
was a fairer system of taxation because property tax can be burdensome for the
elderly and poor who own their homes."When you own your home, you really don't
own your home. You have to rent it from the state," said the first-term
Republican incumbent. Hawkins explained that government should do everything it
can to make it easier for people to own property.His proposal died in the
Senate, due in part to what he considers a lack of support from Republican
leadership. He pledges to try again if re-elected.Ortiz, also puts tax reform
near the top of his agenda in his bid for the seat, which comes with a $10,400
annual salary. He maintains he has been pushing the idea since 1996 when he last
ran for state office. An opinion article that he wrote found in the Herald
Journal archives confirms this, though the article provided no details of his
plan.Ortiz said Hawkins and Republicans are "trying to steal the wind from my
sails" on the property tax issue.Nevertheless, there are major differences in
the two men's plans.Ortiz maintains that hiking the sales tax two cents on the
dollar would not create enough revenue to totally do away with property taxes.
Instead, Ortiz would use money from the sales tax hike to nix all property taxes
on vehicles and use the leftover money to axe sales tax on groceries and
medicine. Property taxes on homes and businesses would remain, though Ortiz said
he has several proposals that would lower them.The state Budget and Control
Board Office of Research and Statistics projects property taxes on homes and
motor vehicles to generate about the same amount of revenue in the coming years
as would a two-cent sales tax increase. The office expects home and car property
taxes to raise $1.1 billion in 2005, while it says the sales tax hike would
generate just over $1 billion.Central to Ortiz's campaign is a jobs plan that
centers on building an ethanol plant in Spartanburg County, instituting reforms
that make prisons less costly and legalizing alcohol sales on Sunday and video
poker.Ethanol would lessen the area's dependence on foreign oil and create jobs
in farming and trucking, Ortiz said. Video poker and Sunday alcohol sales also
would create more revenue for the local economy and generate more tax
dollars.Hawkins has blasted Ortiz for his support of video poker, which was
banned in 2000."It was destroying neighborhoods and destroying families,"
Hawkins said. "I was glad to see it go."Hawkins points to the $100 million in
road improvements he has helped bring to Spartanburg's West side as one of his
proudest accomplishments and says it is evidence he is focused on the region's
economic needs. Hawkins said every arterial in the area has been improved and
the wider roads have eased congestion. Good roadways, he said, were a key to
economic growth.Both men say they are in favor of raising the state's funding
for schools, though Hawkins places it higher on his list of priorities than
Ortiz. Ortiz places law enforcement near the top of his agenda.Alexander
Morrison can be reached at 562-7215 or alex.morrison@shj.com.