Let’s talk about money. A few days ago, Greenville made a headline in a Post and Courier feature about S.C.’s sales taxes titled, “Greenville’s a rare exception as local sales taxes have spread to most SC counties.”
A quick rundown on the state’s sales taxes:
○ The statewide tax is 6% (and has been since 2007), but many counties across the state impose their own local sales taxes, in addition to the state sales tax.
○ Some counties’ additional, local taxes are as high as 3%.
○ 43 counties in S.C. have extra sales taxes.
○ Where do these extra sales taxes come from? Citizens vote on them through referendums.
○ Local sales taxes typically come into play when additional funding is needed for things like road repairs + overcrowded schools, or when the alternative is paying a higher property tax.
○ The Tax Foundation reported that, this year, the state of S.C. has the 17th-highest tax rate – when you combine state + local tax rates – in the nation. South of New York, S.C. is the highest on the East Coast.
So, where does Greenville specifically come into this?
Greenville is one of three counties (the others being Oconee + Georgetown counties) which have no local sales tax. It’s not that there haven’t been referendums to vote on sales tax increases in Greenville County, it’s that voters in the county have rejected the increases. The most recently rejected sales tax increase was in 2014.
Bob Taylor, who is the chairman of the Finance Committee + a Greenville County Councilman, says that he doesn’t think Greenville County has been deprived. He says, “We don’t look for ways to raise revenue, unless we have expenses we can’t meet.”
Now, we want to get your take on the topic. Share your feedback in the poll below.
