Gov. Mark Sanford should resolve one of the many problems unleashed by an ill-advised property tax cap passed by the legislature in the last hours of this year's session. He should quickly veto it.

That would by no means bring relief to Beaufort County, which faces a maze of time-consuming, expensive and confusing options in its new burden to carry out this piecemeal stab at tax reform.

The governor's veto would at least settle one unknown. But it would not solve the problem our county faces in knowing whether tax bills would have to be recalled, replaced or refunded if the legislature were to override the governor's veto in January. It would give the state court system more time to answer the primary question: Is a property tax cap constitutional?

The constitution says property tax must be based on "fair market value." The legislation would create a false value, much lower than "fair market value" for prime real estate. "Market value" for local taxing purposes would be capped at no more than 20 percent growth over five years. Many see the cap as contrary to the constitution. It certainly would not be fair. Taxpayers whose property value increased 15 percent would pay full "fair market value" while the taxpayer whose property value increased 100 percent would get a big break. Furthermore, the tax rate would be expected to increase because of the cap, driving up the tax on cars, business personal property and boats for everyone.

Because a similar, local-option property tax cap has been challenged in court, the legislature was foolish to approve an amendment offered by state Sen. Scott Richardson, R-Hilton Head Island, to make the cap a statewide requirement. Beaufort County Council closely examined the local-option cap, but backed away because it is subject to a court challenge and it does not offer tax relief equitably across the board. Beaufort County delayed the reassessment for a year so it could further study the impact of a cap, and now it is in a big pickle because it might not be able to delay it again. Other counties have that option, which is needed because of all the confusion created by the new legislation. That's a shame. The legislature should be like doctors and vow to "first, do no harm."

The courts should be allowed to rule on the constitutional question. The cap idea should be set aside until that happens. The governor's veto would be a step in that direction.