Give S.C. brighter future: Demand real tax reform

BREATHE A BIG sigh of relief. South Carolina just survived a dangerous week.

Senators started it determined to pass some kind of property tax relief plan before they went home Thursday. At times it looked as though they would succeed. But because the responsible and potentially beneficial approach was so big and complicated and there were so many questions that simply couldn’t be answered quickly, “success” would have meant a plan that could set our state back years, if not decades.

Fortunately, senators decided to ignore their self-imposed deadline, spend this coming week on the state budget and return to the tax debate the next week. They promise to spend as long as it takes to get it right.

That is great news, because it gives our state the breathing room we need to come together on a new tax policy that will help overcome the educational and economic malaise that has held us back for decades.

A tax swap alone can’t do that. But a smart tax system paired with a smart approach to the state’s primary obligation — educating the next generation of workers and citizens — most certainly can. As long as large numbers of us remain undereducated, our wealth, health and quality of life will not improve.

But there’s no guarantee that the Senate will agree to that. Last week’s action simply left the door open. What happens this week may well determine whether this is the year we start building a better future for us all.

Senators are working behind the scenes to refine and build support for three competing plans. Two have the political advantage of being simple and superficially attractive. But both the plan to replace all residential property taxes with a higher sales tax and one to let each county raise its sales tax to offset residential property taxes for schools will hurt the working poor and middle class and erode support for public education.

The third way, brought forth by Republican Sen. Larry Grooms and Democratic Sen. Vincent Sheheen, offers a vehicle for transforming our state for the better.

They would have the state assume total responsibility for funding schools, which means no more local school property taxes. All school funding would be distributed under a formula that provides the same amount of money to educate a gifted eighth-grader from a wealthy family in Marion or in Lexington, and the same (larger) amount on a learning-disabled first-grader from a poor family in Dillon or in Charleston.

Sens. Grooms and Sheheen are trying to figure out how — aside from the sales tax and a small statewide tax on non-residential property — to pay for their plan. And they’re struggling against the odds to build support among voters, businesses and fellow senators.

That’s where each of us comes in. We must tell our senators we won’t settle for a plan that simply quiets demands for lower property taxes. We want more. We want a plan that moves our state forward, that gives every child the tools to become a productive worker and citizen in a new South Carolina — one that will finally be last where we want to be last and first where we want to be first, and not the other way around.

To find out who your senator is, go to http://www.scstatehouse.gov/ and select “Find your legislator.” Or call 1-888-VOTE-SMART.