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ScribeBy: Jason Hardin of The Post and
Courier Staff
Originally Published on: 4/17/03
A group of panelists charged with discussing the increasingly heated topic of property taxation in Charleston County reached a clear and firm conclusion Wednesday night: People don't like property taxes.
The question of what, if anything, to do about that -- as lawsuits fly and rhetoric heats up -- is a little murkier.
The forum, organized by the Historic Charleston Foundation, largely dealt with the county's reassessment cap, which limits the taxable increase of a property's value due to reassessment to 15 percent. More than 100 people attended.
The cap, which is being challenged in court, would have the effect of shifting the tax burden from properties that increased the most in value to other properties, assuming local governments raise the same total amount of property taxes.
Opinions fell along three basic lines: Go forward with the cap, wait before going forward with the cap, or do something other than the cap.
Tim Scott, County Council chairman, said the middle path is a distinct possibility if the S.C. Supreme Court does not rule soon on the cap's legality.
"I think we may delay it another year," he said. "I think there's a strong possibility that we will pause and take another look at it."
Panelist Emerson Read, a downtown resident who is part of a group called Citizens to Save our Homes from Taxation, said the cap is needed now. He said the cap will protect homeowners from hefty tax increases that accompany rising property values until the time that the property tax can be done away with entirely.
Read cited several examples of property owners whose taxes soared after the recent reassessment.
"Many of us pay a disproportionate amount of the cost of government," he said. "Many of us are frustrated and frightened."
Andy Felts, head of the College of Charleston's Riley Institute for Urban Affairs and Policy Studies, agreed that the property tax is not a great tax, but for a different reason.
He said people with lower incomes often pay a higher percentage of their income in property taxes than wealthier residents, a situation the reassessment cap would worsen.
"It would make an unfair tax more unfair," he said.
Felts said a problem with the cap is that it does not take into account the ability to pay the tax. He suggested the use of some kind of "circuit breakers" that would kick in if taxes exceeded a certain percentage of the owner's income.
He also said that the long-term effect of the cap is unclear and that it could make it harder for younger residents to buy homes.
"We are making Charleston County property owners into sort of guinea pigs," he said.
Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. said he supports the cap and added that the city has tried to reduce its reliance on property taxes. The percentage of the city's income that comes from property taxes has dropped in recent years, he said. But he also has said the cap should wait for a court ruling.
It is not clear when the cap's status will be settled. The city of North Charleston is challenging the cap in court, and the school board has voted to join that suit.
North Charleston officials argue that the cap will hurt many city residents by shifting the tax burden their way. School officials say the cap is forcing them to raise taxes or face a shortfall, while some county officials accuse them of spreading misinformation, saying the cap does not create a net tax increase.
Kiawah Island, meanwhile, is defending the cap, which could save some residents thousands of dollars or more each year.
Felts, who also writes about wines, joked that he has an idea to the tangled debate.
"We could raise the taxes on wine and solve this problem," he said.
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