Another plan to overhaul the state's system for funding public schools has emerged, this time from a group of public school business officers.

The group favors adding two pennies to the 5-cents-on-the-dollar sales tax. The business officers - from 10 urban and rural districts - also support a partial rollback of the school property tax.

The plan is similar to one proposed in May by Reps. Rick Quinn, R-Richland, and Vincent Sheheen, D-Kershaw. A major difference is that the legislators want to eliminate, not just reduce, the property taxes for schools.

"I thank those gentlemen for putting forth a dramatic proposal," said Bob Davis, chief financial officer for Richland 2 schools. "We felt it was a good time for us to share our thoughts on what's being proposed."

The way South Carolina pays for public schools is expected to be a key issue during the next several months.

Rural districts have charged in a lawsuit that the state doesn't provide an adequately funded education system for all children. The civil trial from the lawsuit continues Monday in Manning.

School funding is also expected to be a key issue for legislators when they return to Columbia in January.

Davis and nine colleagues, all acting independently of their employers, went public this week with their proposal, which draws on the Quinn-Sheheen tax changes for inspiration:

• Raise the sales tax by two percentage points, and pledge the additional revenue to the state's K-12 public education system.

• Give all teachers a raise to make the average salary equivalent to the national average.

• Cap the local property tax rate for all school districts at $400 for a home with an assessed value of $100,000.

While a statewide property tax is a key component of their plan, the business officers also say those taxes should be allowed to increase in order to fund "district-level demands and needs."

The business officers estimate a two-penny sales tax increase will generate about $1.5 billion in new income for the state. Placing a limit on the local property tax rate would decrease that revenue by an estimated $449 million.

The Quinn-Sheheen proposal calls for doing away altogether with property taxes that go to schools as a trade-off for a sales tax increase.

Educators think that's unwise.

"It leaves us totally reliant on the whims of the economy," said Paul Krohne, director of the S.C. School Boards Association. "The sales tax alone makes revenue too unpredictable. It needs to be diversified. Eliminating one is not acceptable to us."

Davis said the business officers' group believes state government should rely on three primary sources of revenue: income, sales and property taxes.

"With swings in the economy, it's important to have a balanced tax structure," Davis said. "You don't want to be subject to those swings. Property taxes tend to be relatively stable."

Sheheen said he's familiar with the business group's suggestions and applauds its effort.

"Their plan dramatically increases revenue above what our plan did," Sheheen said. "I look at our plan as a structural change in the way we do things. We're not so much concerned with the short-term financial price as we are concerned with the long-term structure of how we do it.

"The goal is to change the way we do things, not fight about money," Sheheen said.

With state government struggling to pay its bills and public schools demanding more money, Sheheen and Quinn formed an alliance to reshape the state tax code. They have spent the summer explaining it to groups they will need as allies.

A spokesman for Gov. Mark Sanford said the governor had not been briefed on the details of either plan. Hunter Howard, president of the S.C. Chamber of Commerce, said his organization has not taken a stand on either tax change plan.

Rep. Bob Walker, R-Spartanburg, said the business officers' plan intrigues him, but he is unwilling to support a sales tax increase without a substantial rollback in property taxes.

Reach Robinson at (803) 771-8482 or brobinson@thestate.com.