Tiny fraction of county's population provides 11% of total property taxes Armed with a new study that shows Kiawah Island as a mega-generator of tax revenue and jobs for Charleston County, the resort town's newly re-elected mayor wants to take action on issues most vital to island residents. Tops on the town's wish list are a property assessment cap and a new road across Johns Island to make travel to and from the island faster and safer, Mayor William G. Wert said. Wert said the town has earned the right to have its concerns addressed. According to the study commissioned by the town and conducted by two College of Charleston professors, the town is home to four-tenths of 1 percent of Charleston County's population and pays 11 percent of the property taxes. The study determined that the island generated $439 million in 2003 for the county. It linked Kiawah to 8,000 local jobs off the island that pay out $85 million annually. The study also concluded that because the town provides itself with water, sewerage, trash pickup, road maintenance, security and other services, it costs the county virtually nothing. Kiawah property taxes totaled $31.2 million in 2001 and $34 million in 2002, town Administrator Allison Harvey said. County Administrator Roland Windham said the study results aren't surprising. "Council members know that they (Kiawah) contribute a large portion of the tax base and yet receive little for it," he said. The gated, sea island resort town has a population of about 2,000, many of whom are retired executives and their spouses. Wert, a retired General Electric Co. vice president beginning his second two-year term as mayor, said the study found that the population is retired but not idle. Kiawah's impact stretches beyond taxes and service jobs, the study maintains. It said islanders spend a lot of money at Charleston area businesses, support the arts and provide millions of dollars and thousands of hours of volunteer time to local charities. Wert plans to use the study as leverage to get authorities outside the island to approve the new road and to find a solution to what he called unfair and ever-soaring property taxes levied on island homeowners. The assessment cap issue currently is tied up in the courts and the General Assembly on Wednesday voted not to override Gov. Mark Sanford's veto of tax cap legislation. Assessment cap opponents include the city of North Charleston, which filed suit to abolish it. Opponents maintain capping assessments on high-value properties raises taxes on properties of lesser value. However, Wert said property taxes have reached the $40,000 to $60,000 level for some homes at Kiawah, and are literally taxing fixed-income retirees off the island. A road across Johns Island was proposed in 2001 by state Department of Transportation officials as an alternative to widening grand-oak-lined Bohicket Road. The idea of two proposed routes for a new road went nowhere due to a lack of funding and opposition from Johns Islanders. Wert said Bohicket Road is narrow and dangerous. Because no one wants to destroy the road's beauty, building a new road through mainly undeveloped land makes more sense, he said. State Highway Commissioner Bob Harrell said the road proposal could be brought up again by the Charleston Area Transportation Study committee. Voters approved a half-cent sales tax increase last year, and if the referendum passes legal hurdles, funding could be available, he said. STUDY'S KEY FINDINGS -- Kiawah Island's 2003 economic impact on Charleston County was $439 million and the town generates more than 8,000 local jobs with a payroll totaling $85 million. -- Real estate sales totaled $325.7 million in 2003, and was responsible for 3,000 jobs. -- Kiawah residents' investments in Charleston-based business enterprises average $1.8 million annually, supporting 1,179 full-time and 309 part-time jobs. -- Kiawah has 1.2 percent of the county's land base, 2.1 percent of the households and 0.4 percent of the population -- but pays 11.3 percent of the property taxes. -- Charleston County collects an average of $78 million in sales taxes and $1.6 million in accommodations taxes annually from Kiawah.

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