What to know about proposed ‘penny sales tax’ on November Beaufort Co. ballot

by Aaron Dixon

BEAUFORT COUNTY, S.C. (WTOC) - This November, Beaufort County voters will head to the polls to decide the fate of a proposed 1% transportation sales tax aimed at addressing the county’s rapid growth and roadway infrastructure needs.

If approved on the November 3 ballot, the “penny tax” is projected to generate $780 million over the next nine years to fund approximately 65 road and safety projects across the county.

Funding the road ahead

County Council has approved the nine-year program, which organizes the estimated $780 million into three primary project categories:

Safety and Intersection Improvements: $326 million
Resurfacing and Dirt Road Paving: $249 million
Road Widening Projects: $205 million

Specific projects under the proposal include paving existing dirt roads, installing traffic signals, widening congested corridors, improving intersections, and implementing new safety measures to keep pace with the county’s growing population.

The constant growth of Beaufort County’s population brings with it more people trying to get from Point A to Point B on county roadways.

County leaders say if this penny sales tax is passed, it would help keep up with that growth by bringing necessary infrastructure improvements to make the roads safer and easier to travel on.”

Lessons Learned from 2024

This is not the first time Beaufort County has proposed a sales tax for transportation improvements. While a previous penny tax passed in 2018, a similar referendum proposed in 2024 failed by more than 11,000 votes.

County leaders say they have taken those results to heart and redesigned the 2026 proposal with a heavy emphasis on community involvement and transparency.

If approved, a Citizen Oversight Committee will be established to monitor the funding and project progress.

The committee will include one representative from each county municipality alongside three representatives from the Beaufort County Council.

Additionally, the county has launched an online resource where residents can directly view and track each proposed project.

“We wanted to target projects that we think that we can complete in the timeline and then the trust element as far as the citizen-led oversight committee,” Beaufort County Interim Director of Capital Projects, Jared Fralix, said. ”We tried to take lessons learned from 2024, things that we’ve heard, and put those forward in this new ballot in 2026.”

What will—and won’t—be taxed

If approved, the 1% sales tax would take effect on May 1, 2027, and expire on or before April 30, 2036.

The tax would apply to most retail purchases within the county, with several key exceptions designed to protect residents’ essential living expenses. The tax will not be added to:

Mortgage or rent payments
Medical purchases and prescriptions
Unprepared food purchased at grocery stores

The bonding question: Getting an early start

Voters will actually see two related questions on their ballots.

Directly below the sales tax proposal is a second question asking for authorization to bond a certain percentage of the proposed tax.

“There are actually two questions: the tax, and right behind it is a question asking for bonding of a certain percentage of the proposed tax,” Fralix explained. ”The bonding question allows us to get started on projects sooner.”

If the sales tax passes but the bonding question does not, the county will still move forward with the projects, but the timeline will be significantly slower as the county waits for the sales tax revenue to accumulate.