Beaufort Co. voters voice concerns about proposed penny tax for road projects

BEAUFORT COUNTY, S.C. (WTOC) - Beaufort County voters will decide Nov. 3 whether to add a 1% sales tax to most retail purchases to fund road and safety improvements.

At a Thursday public hearing on the proposal, residents voiced support for addressing traffic problems but questioned whether the county can deliver the projects and earn voters’ trust.

If approved, the tax is projected to raise about $780 million over nine years for over 80 road and safety projects.

The county’s plan allocates about $326 million for safety and intersection improvements, $249 million for resurfacing and dirt-road paving, and $205 million for road-widening projects.

The proposed work includes paving dirt roads, installing traffic signals, widening congested corridors, and improving intersections as the county’s population grows.

Residents question oversight and follow-through

Erick Harman, who has lived in Beaufort County for several years, said he recognizes the need for improvements but opposes the proposed tax.

“We don’t doubt that most of the council and administration want to solve these real problems, and these are real problems,” Harman said.

He said county leaders should have done more to build public confidence before proposing another tax.

“Instead of reading the room, listening to voters, and making an earnest attempt to prove to them that the county could be trusted to take on something of this magnitude, we went all in for another moonshot,” he said.

County leaders say they used feedback from an earlier failed referendum to reshape the proposal, focusing on projects they believe can be completed within the program’s timeline and adding citizen-led oversight.

“We wanted to target projects that we think we can actually complete in the timeline, and then the trust element as far as the citizen-led oversight committee,” Assistant County Administrator Jared Fralix said.

Some residents remain unconvinced.

Bob Priest said he believes the county should look to the school district’s approach to referendum projects.

“The simple answer is the county is going about it wrong, and they have been going about it wrong for the past eight years. We have the model across town and refuse to respond to it. It’s terribly frustrating,” Priest said.

Residents also pointed to projects from a 2018 referendum that they say remain unfinished, and questioned why some dangerous intersections were not included in the new list.

“There’s no guarantee that these projects will be done, just like the 2018—fool me once or twice,” resident Ann Ubelis said.

Oversight, tax exemptions and a second ballot question

If voters approve the tax, a citizen oversight committee would monitor funding and project progress. It would include one representative from each county municipality and three representatives from Beaufort County Council. The county also says residents will be able to track proposed projects through an online resource.

The 1% tax would take effect May 1, 2027, and end on or before April 30, 2036.

It would apply to most retail purchases, but not rent or mortgage payments, medical purchases and prescriptions, or unprepared grocery-store food.

Voters will also see a separate bonding question on the ballot. Approval would allow the county to borrow against a portion of the projected tax revenue and begin projects sooner. If the tax passes but the bonding question does not, the county says it would still proceed, but projects would take longer as revenue accumulates.

The county is offering additional opportunities for residents to learn about the proposal and share their views before Election Day.

The next opportunity is on October 13.