Beaufort County could be on the verge of a new wave of industrial development spurred by a set of proposed business tax incentives -- with one manufacturer already eyeing the county for a $10 million investment and the creation of 50 jobs.

Although the manufacturer's representative, lawyer Ray Jones of the Columbia-based law firm Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein, wouldn't name the business because it is still shopping different locations for its new project, he did outline a proposal Monday that would allow the business to pay so-called fees instead of traditional property taxes.

Afterward, the County Council's Economic Development Committee passed a motion to have the project's first reading at the Oct. 23 County Council meeting and to discuss it in executive session.

While paying the county "fees" instead of traditional property taxes sounds like merely a semantic difference, it frees the county from several state-mandated business tax structures.

County officials generally look at industrial development positively because it helps shift the county tax burden from homeowners to businesses and strengthens the economy by diversifying it beyond tourism.

The county would negotiate fee-in-lieu-of-taxes arrangements on a business-by-business basis and they would last up to 20 years. To qualify, businesses must guarantee investing at least $2.5 million over five years. The arrangement allows the county to assess industrial property taxes less than the state-mandated rate of 10.5 percent, giving businesses an incentive to move or expand in the county.

The county would have much more flexibility in how to spend money raised through these arrangements versus traditional taxes. State law is strict about how business taxes are distributed but not so with fees in lieu of taxes.

While plans of this sort are common in other counties, it is new to Beaufort County.

"Beaufort County has never used fee in lieu of, to my knowledge," said committee Chairman Dick Stewart.

The county can facilitate the creation of fee-in-lieu-of-taxes arrangements by developing multicounty business parks, such as the Corridor Commerce Park proposed to be near the borders of Beaufort, Hampton, Jasper and Colleton counties. Businesses that set up shop in these parks are automatically eligible for the fee-in-lieu-of-taxes arrangements.

"Basically, sticking your arm over in another county" through these parks creates more favorable business conditions, Stewart said.

Multicounty parks also can receive job credits on their state taxes on a per employee basis.

Another effect of the plan is improved school funding. The state's 1977 Education Finance Act governs how state money is distributed to South Carolina's 85 school districts. The distribution formula it uses is based in part on how much property tax money a county can collect, but properties paying fees in lieu of taxes are treated more favorably by the formula, potentially limiting cuts in state education funding.

With property values soaring in Beaufort County, the formula led to $15 million less in state money for the county's school system in the last state legislative session.