August 9, 2005
 

Property Tax Restructuring

County officials will need to make direct contacts with the members of the House and Senate, focusing on the members of the property tax committees, during the month of August regarding property tax restructuring to preserve the ability to meet the service needs of the citizens without causing unintended consequences. It is critical to make your voice heard during the initial formulation stages of this process, both in the public hearings and in personal contacts with the members of the committees addressing the property tax.

The House and Senate have both formed large committees to produce a property tax restructuring bill and each has a goal of completing their work before January, possible before Thanksgiving.

The Senate committee has scheduled five public hearing beginning on this Thursday, August 11 from 6:00 - 9:00 pm at Trident Technical College Main Campus at 7000 Rivers Avenue in Rooms 212-216 of the Student Center, Building 410. If you wish to speak at the Charleston public hearing, there may still be time to sign up after the noon August 10 deadline, but everyone will be required to have a speaker registration form from the Senate Judiciary Committee. There will also be a sign up for any time available after the registered speakers. The remaining public hearings the Senate Committee has planned are scheduled as follows:
• August 23 - Strom Thurmond High School, Edgefield 6:00 - 9:00 pm
• August 24 - Greenville Technical College, Greenville 6:00 - 9:00 pm
• August 30 - Joyner Auditorium, Marion 6:00 - 9:00 pm
• August 31 - USC-Lancaster, Lancaster 6:00 - 9:00 pm

The Senate Committee has asked that comments at the public hearings be directed to the potential changes in the property tax system. The Senate Committee is looking at several approaches to property tax restructuring, including any one or more of the following:
• Millage rate limits. This approach is to cap the increase in millage rates, which may be tied to some inflation or growth index. We currently operate under this type of approach.
• Assessment limits. Limiting the amount of increase on the values used for property tax purposes is the key. This is similar to the 20% cap on assessed value increases passed in 2004 and vetoed. Another version of this approach is the valuation freeze, similar to Proposition 13 in California.
• Revenue rollbacks. Under this approach, the millage rate is required to be adjusted when the assessed value increases. South Carolina currently does this after reassessment implementation. There are other versions of this approach as well.
• Property tax freeze. Property tax increases are prohibited under this approach when certain conditions are met, typically age or income threshholds, although there are other conditions contemplated. This is something like our homestead exemption.
• Tax caps. Another approach is a total tax revenue cap or limitation, typically tied to some sort of inflation or growth index.
• Property tax substitution. This approach replaces some or all of the property tax revenue stream with revenue from a different mechanism such as sales tax or another tax. This is the approach adopted in the SCAC policy position.

The House and Senate property tax committee rosters are enclosed and posted on the SCAC website (www.sccounties.org). Other postings to the SCAC website will include additional background information on the school millage driver formulas and other information as it is developed. Another source of information and raw data to check is the Senate website (www.scstatehouse.net then click on “Citizens’ Interests” on the left hand side, then click on the link under “Property Tax Reform”). The speaker registration form and other details on the public hearings are also posted on the Senate website. If you have questions or need further information, please contact Robert Croom in the SCAC office at 1 (800) 922 - 6081 or Robert@SCAC.state.sc.us - please include a reference to Property Tax Restructuring in the subject line.


SCAC POLICY POSITION ON PROPERTY TAX RESTRUCTURING:

Support shifting school operating funding from the property tax to state sources of revenue:
• Eliminate local property tax millage for school operating purposes (for all classes of property).
• Millage levied to pay school general obligation debt would remain on the property tax bill.
• Current school operating revenue would then be replaced on a dollar for dollar basis by state appropriated revenue.

The most frequently discussed replacement revenue source for property taxes is an increased sales tax. Current proposals range from 1 to 3% additional sales tax and sales tax exemption changes. However, the SCAC position does not exclude other replacement revenue sources.

WHY SHOULD THE SCHOOL OPERATING TAX BE THE FOCUS?

• School property taxes are 61 cents of every property tax dollar collected in South Carolina. School operating taxes are 49 cents of every dollar collected in South Carolina.

• The statutory requirements of EIA/EFA require that school operating revenue per pupil be maintained and increased each year, regardless of what happens to the property tax base. Without addressing the millage drivers, any property tax relief granted will soon be consumed by the increases in school property taxes required by this formula.

• The statutory formula is not based upon service needs, but purely upon the amount of revenue collected for school operations. If the publicly adopted budget is one amount and there is a windfall of revenue collected (because of an unanticipated addition to the tax base...) above the budgeted expenditures, the benchmark becomes the revenue collected figure. That figure is then divided by the number of pupils from the previous year, increased by the inflation factor, and then increased again by the previous year per pupil expenditures multiplied by the number of additional students in the district. There is no needs assessment made in the process and any savings recognized from more efficient operations cannot be cut from the budget without obtaining a waiver from the State Department of Education.

• The statutory formula uses estimated pupil attendance supplied by the individual school districts and is never adjusted for the audited numbers.

• Capital items and one time expenditures in the school operating budget become part of the per pupil funding level which must be maintained and increased in order to receive state funding the next year.

WHAT DO THE NUMBERS LOOK LIKE?

Total school operations (FY 05-06 est.)                     2 083 298 558

Statewide additional sales tax (2/05 est.)

                                                                 1%        601 000 000
                                                                 2%     1 166 000 000
                                                                 3%     1 696 000 000


Using a 3% sales and revisiting the sales tax exemptions and caps:

3% sales tax increase                                                       1 696 000 000
revenue from sales exemption repeals or modifications         387 298 558
There are currently more than 60 sales tax exemptions or
capped sales tax items. The total value of those exemptions
and caps were estimated to be over $1.2 billion in FY 04-05
at a 5% sales tax rate.
Total replacement revenue                                              2 085 000 000

Other solutions with a smaller sales tax increase and more sales tax exemption changes may be made but the concept is the same. Sources of revenue other than sales tax could also work under this concept.