Pickens County Sen. Larry Martin plans to introduce legislation next year that will help ensure school districts don't unfairly reap a windfall from next year's property tax law changes. He's right to do so. Martin's bill will remedy at least one small problem, but the overall tax plan overwhelmingly favors the rich and remains so flawed that it should be repealed.

Lawmakers next year plan to eliminate school operating taxes from owner-occupied home tax bills. The state will take over those funding responsibilities with money from a new 1 percent sales tax. The money coming from the state will be based on how much districts collect next year from property taxes. As a result, some school districts have been raising property taxes in order to get more money from the state next year.

Martin's bill solves that problem by simply rolling back the year used to figure school district funding. Under Martin's proposal, each school district would receive a funding level equal to the district's 2005-06 revenues -- rather than its 2006-07 revenues. The state funding formula also takes into account growth in the district and inflation.

Martin's bill prevents school districts from taking advantage of the change in tax law. Some school districts recently raised taxes, and critics suggest they are trying to get more money from the state next year. Martin suggested that was the case with the Pickens County School District, which raised taxes by 4 mills. More dramatically, Spartanburg's District 5, which includes parts of Greer, raised its tax rate by 36 mills.

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While Martin's proposal addresses one small concern, the state's tax-swap plan overall is grossly irresponsible. For starters, the initiative provides a huge windfall for owners of expensive homes while placing extra financial burdens on renters. Also, owners of more modest homes will see little to no benefit from this shift from property taxes to the more regressive sales tax.

The tax swap also is an assault on local control. By usurping local school district taxing ability, the state is robbing districts of their decision-making authority when it comes to such things as raising teacher salaries or paying for new programs. Reacting to this loss of local control, Moody's Investors Service recently put a negative outlook on public school borrowing in the state. That could lower credit ratings for school districts, costing schools more money when borrowing for capital expenses.

Under the plan, lawmakers also are swapping a highly stable tax -- the property tax -- for a less stable one -- the sales tax. Yet another concern is that the sales tax does not grow at the same rate as the property tax base it's replacing. Could that mean lower per-pupil expenditures in the future? Lawmakers didn't devote much study to such an important issue.

Lawmakers dedicated a great deal of political passion but not much critical analysis to the tax-swap plan. The tax swap is a boon for wealthier homeowners, but it's likely to create a lot of trouble for public schools.