Charleston County tax foes meet

They went around the long table introducing themselves and talking about their newly arrived Charleston County tax bills. Gerald Kaynard said his Sullivan's Island bill rose about 300 percent, while the bill for his downtown Charleston law office doubled. David Ingle, a Charleston City Council candidate, said his bill rose by 50 percent on his home in Wappoo Heights in West Ashley. And Richard Kerr, a contractor who lives on Johns Island, beat them all by announcing that property taxes on his property rose by 575 percent. They were among 14 county residents from Mount Pleasant to Wadmalaw Island who met Wednesday to strategize about how best to push for property tax reform, ideally for the elimination of all taxes on single-family homes. None of them want to ever sit around this table telling similar stories five years from now. Most homeowners across Charleston County received higher bills this week as a result of a recent reassessment and as a result of a tax increase by the Charleston County School Board. Emerson Read, who has worked in real estate for 42 years and lives on King Street, organized Wednesday's meeting and struck an optimistic note. "We can do it. The people are stronger than the politicians," he said. "This is just confiscatory, and it's got to change." But Lanneau Seigling, a retired hotel manager active in politics, cautioned that lobbyists for cities, counties and school boards could attempt to block tax reform. He said reform supporters must work to win over lawmakers one by one. "It's mission work," he said. "Convince one and go on to the next one." The reformers in the Lowcountry have supporters in the Upstate, and they already have two Web sites -- www.scnotax.com and www.stoptax.org. Read said they plan to ramp up pressure by calling state lawmakers, circulating petitions and keeping the issue alive by calling talk radio and writing letters to the editor. As Read sought volunteers, the group was hesitant to step forward, although several eventually agreed to pledge either money or time or both. Both the state House and Senate have formed committees to look at property taxes, and tax reform is expected to be one of the General Assembly's hottest issues when it reconvenes in January.

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