About every five years, counties reassess properties for tax purposes to adjust for those that have risen sharply in value and those that have not. Under the bill passed Thursday, no property's tax value could rise more than 20 percent.

The move was intended to ease reassessment's effect on owners of homes, apartments, stores and offices that rose most in value. Other property owners, including industries and car owners, would have to pay more to make up for those breaks. Under a cap, some property owners would pay less, but cities, counties and school districts would have to increase their tax rates to collect the same amount of money. Because of those higher rates, many taxpayers would pay slightly more.

Rep. Vida Miller, the Pawleys Island Democrat whose district extends down to Awendaw, was the bill's chief sponsor.

"Hopefully, what this will accomplish is some equity in reassessment, and it will help to even out that shift of the tax burden that has been placed on the homeowner under this current system," she said. "Also, with the 20 percent cap in there, all families will be able to plan for what the reassessment will be."

Of the 109 House members who voted on the cap bill, 104 voted yes.

The action drew some criticism.

"It looks like a great, great idea on the surface, but we think it's unfair," said Julie Horton of the S.C. Chamber of Commerce. "We don't think it's fair to business."

Berkeley County Deputy Supervisor Robert Metts said both he and Supervisor Jim Rozier oppose the 20 percent cap, adding: "The overall effect is it's not a reduction in taxes. It's a shift, from one class of people to another class."

It's unclear whether Gov. Mark Sanford will sign the bill. His office said Friday that he is reviewing it.

One time constraint soon will arise: 11 counties, including Berkeley and Dorchester, are now in the middle of a reassessment. Officials from those counties soon could meet with the S.C. Revenue Department, spokesman Danny Brazell said.

"Our main concern is the administrative problems that they may have implementing the cap." he said. "It's just too soon to know what impact this might have on counties."

What once was considered mostly a Charleston County problem -- some homeowners getting socked with sharply higher tax bills after a reassessment -- has spread across the state, especially up and down the coast.

For years, the Legislature has tried to address the problem. Several years ago, it gave counties the option of capping values at 15 percent, and Charleston County Council tried to do so. It limited the cap only to owner-occupied homes, however, and the S.C. Supreme Court overturned it.

Rep. Wallace Scarborough, R-Charleston, said he hopes lawmakers passed something useful this time.

"Hopefully, this will be done correctly and will allow some relief for the people, not just in Charleston County but also statewide," he said. "Beaufort is having a problem; Myrtle Beach is starting to have a problem. A lot of places are just screaming for it."

Those opposing it argue that such reassessment caps are a reverse-Robin Hood move that benefit the rich and hurt the poor.

"Based on the research we've done, it shifts the property tax burden to lower-valued properties that don't necessarily appreciate as much as more expensive type properties," said Bob Lyon of the S.C. Association of Counties.

Miller disagreed.

"Everyone was caught off guard by this sudden increase in reassessment. I had folks from all walks of life tell me: 'You've got to help me with this. I'm losing my property,' " she said.

Charleston County Council Chairman Barrett Lawrimore is taking a wait-and-see stance. "Reassessment is coming next year, so that's the question: What do we do? I really don't know," he said.

Metts said Berkeley County's tax rate this year will be about 2 mills higher with a 20 percent cap. That would add about $16 to the bill on a $200,000 home. Owners of homes that appreciated less than 20 percent -- as well as owners of industries, cars, boats and personal property -- would pick up the slack. Metts said he had no analysis to back it up but that Daniel Island property owners likely would benefit most.

In Charleston County, a dramatically different set of property owners might benefit from a cap next year than would have several years ago. Then, the properties appreciating most were on Kiawah Island and in downtown Charleston.

A fresh analysis of recent sales shows properties now rising the most in value are on Johns Island (127 percent inside the city of Charleston, 69 percent outside); on Edisto Island (113 percent); in Meggett (85 percent); in McClellanville (82 percent); and on James Island (54 percent). Properties in downtown Charleston have sold for an average of only 39 percent more than their 1999 county tax value, and on Kiawah, the difference has been only 30 percent, according to county spokeswoman Jamie Thomas. Mount Pleasant values increased 41 percent, and city of North Charleston property rose 23 percent.

"The assessor's office was a little bit surprised in pulling together these numbers," she said. "The large growth areas from the previous assessments were different than they are now."

North Charleston and Charleston County are involved in a lawsuit before the S.C. Supreme Court to determine whether the old 15 percent cap is constitutional.

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