FY 2025-26 Millage Rate Increase Limitations Available Online

Member for

1 year 1 month
March 18, 2025

The South Carolina Office of Revenue and Fiscal Affairs has released county millage rate limitations for FY 2025-26. County population estimates—one of the two components that make up the millage rate increase limitation prescribed in Section 6-1-320(A)(1)—were recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau. The other component—the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increase of 2.95%—was released in February.

The millage rate increase limitation for FY 2026 will be the total of the percentage increase in your county's population estimate from 2023 to 2024 plus the 2.95% CPI. For purposes of the millage cap, if your county's population decreased, you are deemed to have zero population growth for FY 2025-26.

The FY 2026 Millage Rate Increase Limitations by County is available here.

Counties may include any unused capacity from the previous three years to calculate their FY 2026 Millage Increase Limitation. SCAC does not know what unused capacity your county may have. The three-year lookback for FY 2023 to FY 2025 can be viewed here.

Section 6-1-320(B) provides that the millage rate limitation may only be suspended and the millage rate increased upon a two-thirds vote of the county governing body and ONLY for the following purposes:

  1. the deficiency of the preceding year;
  2. any catastrophic event;
  3. compliance with a court order or decree;
  4. taxpayer closure outside the control of the governing body that decreases by 10% or more the amount of revenue payable to the taxing jurisdiction in the preceding year;
  5. compliance with a regulation or law enacted by the federal or state government for which no funding is provided;
  6. purchase of undeveloped real property near an operating U.S. military base that has been identified as suitable for residential development; or
  7. to purchase capital equipment and make expenditures related to such in a county having a population of less than 100,000 and having at least 40,000 acres of state or national forest land.

The millage rate limitation does not affect millage that is levied to pay bonded indebtedness or payments for real property purchased using a lease-purchase agreement or used to maintain a reserve account. It also does not affect millage imposed to pay bonded indebtedness or operating expenses of a special tax district as prescribed in Section 4-9-30(5).

If you have any questions, please call Susan Turkopuls or Victoria Dixon at 1-800-922-6081.