On October 24, 2023, after a public workshop, Georgetown County Council passed two Resolutions to be placed on the ballot for November 2024 regarding penny sales taxes for our residents to vote on in the general election. The first one is the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) and the second one is the Capital Projects Sales Tax (CPST) outlined below:
- Resolution No. 23-33 - A Resolution Approving and Authorizing a Local Option Sale Tax pursuant to SC Code §4-10-10, et seq., and All Necessary Acts and Matters Relating Thereto as May Be Required Under SC Law.
- Resolution No. 23-34 – A Resolution Approving and Authorizing the Creation of a Commission Pursuant to SC Code §4-10-300, et. seq., to Consider Proposals and to Carry Out All Necessary Acts and Matters Relating Thereto as May Be Required Under SC Law for Funding Capital Projects within Georgetown County
- Georgetown County Council YouTube link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0moqdcPzYeo&t=3662s
Most of the revenue for county budgets in South Carolina derives from property taxes imposed on property owners (both businesses and residents). County budgets are responsible for county roads, stormwater, public works, law enforcement, fire, EMS, public safety, libraries, aging services, planning and zoning, recycling, bike paths, airports, economic development, building codes and permits, parks and recreation, detention centers, judicial centers, and a myriad of other services for our residents and businesses.
For Georgetown County, we recently passed our budget at just over $100 million for FY 2023/2024, while our neighbors to our north and south spend close to $1 BILLION a year. The burden for all these services falls primarily on property owners even though nonresidents, tourists, visitors, outside businesses, and passersby consume county services as well every year which require operations and maintenance for the county to address.
Georgetown County is the sixth largest generator of tourism revenue in the state and tourist spending in FY 2022/2023 hit a record high in Georgetown County exceeding $380 million a year, producing $66 million in worker income, and accounting for 3,300 local jobs. If both the CPST and the LOST penny taxes are approved by voters on the November 24th ballot, Georgetown County penny sales tax impact would be approximately $7.6 million a year and would go into effect in 2025. County Administrator, Angela Christian presented the following presentation at a public workshop on October 16: https://www.gtcounty.org/DocumentCenter/View/2760/PowerPoint-presented-to-Council-at-10-16-23-Workshop-PDF.
More information
Learn more about the proposed taxes at gtcounty.org/2024taxes. Information will continue to be added at that link throughout the spring and summer, as the referendum draws closer.
Summary Informational Table
Sales Tax | LOST | CPST |
| Anticipated yearly revenue | $10 million | $10 million |
| Length of time in effect | Indefinite, until County Council votes to end it | 4 years (or another specified term set forth in the ballot put before voters) |
| Where does the revenue go? | 71% (~ $7.1Million back to property owners) 29% (~ $2.9 Million to operations and maintenance for the county) | Determined by CPST Commission, but there are some potential projects (highways/roads, new facilities/government buildings, water and sewer projects, flood control projects, stormwater facilities, beach accesses, beach renourishment.) A list must be provided to the public before the referendum and approved by voters as part of the referendum. |
| What can be taxed? | Anything that is subject to sales tax | Anything that is subject to sales tax |
| What is NOT taxed? | Groceries, prescription medication and other items exempt from the state sales tax | Groceries, prescription medication and other items exempt from the state sales tax |
| How many other counties in SC have these taxes? | 32 of 46 | 23 of 46 (an additional 17 have other sales taxes like transportation, education, etc.) |