COLUMBIA, S.C. - Members of a state House committee studying property tax relief said Wednesday they want to concentrate on cutting local taxes that fund schools' operating costs.

Doing that could involve raising the state sales tax to 7 percent, eliminating sales tax exemptions, reviewing tax incentives or taxing services.

"It doesn't have to be one solution. We can have multiple things," Rep. Bill Cotty, R-Columbia, told committee members to jump-start their third meeting on the issue. He asked each lawmaker to give opinions on where the relief should go and where the money should come from. "Keep your mind open."

Some legislators talked of eliminating all property taxes, including on vehicles. But most said school operations are the main reason for rising property taxes.

But addressing the tax problem has to be done in phases" Rep. Mac Toole, R-West Columbia, said. "If we put too much on the table, my fear is that we will do nothing."

Cotty says between 60 percent and 70 percent of residents' property taxes goes to school district operations. Eliminating that tax bite would cost the state $2.4 billion as the burden moves from local governments to the state, Cotty said. And that $2.4 billion doesn't include school construction costs.

House Majority Leader Jim Merrill, R-Daniel Island, said he'd like the state to take over school operating costs and eliminate school districts' ability to increase taxes.

Legislators say rising property values, particularly along the coast, are forcing people to sell homes they've owned for years because they can't afford to pay property taxes.

Rep. Lewis Vaughn, R-Greer, suggested eliminating property taxes for anyone who owns a home valued at or below market average. "My view is that it's unconscionable to kick people out of homes they've lived in their entire life," he said.

But not everyone agreed tax reform is necessary.

"I'm not convinced our tax structure is out of line with what it ought to be," said Rep. B.R. Skelton, R-Six Mile. He says South Carolina's property taxes "are relatively benign" compared to other states.

But that's not a fair comparison because South Carolinians' wages are lower, said Rep. Chip Limehouse, R-Charleston.

"Here's a novel idea. Let's focus on increasing wages," Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, said. She wants a multi-pronged solution. "Let's not be of the mind-set that the only way to keep people in their homes is to decrease property taxes."

Legislators started to go line by line through a four-page, $1.3 billion, list of sales tax exemptions, to see which they wanted to review for elimination.

"The special interests will chip away at whatever we come out with," Merrill said. "Nothing out there is sacrosanct. We have to start with a blank slate. I'm ready to quit the yapping and start getting at it."

Items discussed included sales taxes on manufactured homes, musical instruments bought by religious groups, newsprint and newspaper sales, and equipment sold to radio and TV companies.

As the meeting wore on, Cobb-Hunter said the committee needed to focus and come back to the next meeting after doing its homework.

"At the rate we're going, we'll be sitting around in January and still talking about what we want to do," she said. "I don't have that kind of energy."

The committee will meet again on Oct. 19. House members hope to have a property tax bill ready when the legislative session begins in January.

The state Senate has held similar hearings around South Carolina.