Charleston County Council on Tuesday will vote on the second reading of a proposed referendum to extend a penny tax originally passed in 2016. If voters approve it in November, it would fund the county’s share of the $2.3 billion Mark Clark extension project.
At issue: A growing concern by at least one county councilman that the county would need to borrow more than $600 million to pay interest costs on $1.8 million it would also have to borrow to pay its share of the road extension project, according to county numbers.
“We have an awesome responsibility … to see to all the traffic needs of the county,” council member Larry Kobrovsky told the Charleston City Paper. “I’m a fiscal conservative and a conservationist, and this fails on both hands.
“Those in favor of it think you’re either for this or you want everyone to sit in traffic, but I don’t think this is the only way to do that,” he added. “Even if we pass this, it will be 15 years before anyone starts feeling any sort of alleviation from it.”
In 2019, the state of South Carolina’s infrastructure bank agreed to cover $420 million for the I-526 extension project. Coincidentally that’s what the whole project once was estimated to cost. But in the years since, the total cost has soared to $2.3 billion.
That means Charleston County taxpayers would be on the hook for about $1.8 billion — plus $648 million in related borrowing costs. If the new penny tax passes, the county is projected to raise a total of $5.4 billion.
The rest of the revenue would fund the ongoing costs of “highways, roads, streets, bridges, bicycle and pedestrian accommodations, mass transit systems, and the preservation of green spaces,” according to county council’s transportation committee.
What’s still unfinished
To make matters worse for some penny tax opponents, the new tax would pay for millions of dollars of work that was supposed to be covered by the 2016 referendum.
About 5% of the revenue — or $282,223,000 — would go toward “carryover projects” from the 2016 sales tax which have stalled out due to insufficient funds, according to Charleston County Chief Financial Officer Mack Gile.
Three major projects from the 2016 sales tax need additional funding — U.S. Highway 78, Palmetto Commerce Parkway and Dorchester Road. After the 2016 sales tax passed, the county said it would fund the projects on a bay-as-you-go basis, according to council chair Herb Sass.
By not borrowing money to fund projects promised in the 2016 referendum, the council saved around $230 million in interest, Sass explained at a May 30 council meeting. This approach, however, slowed things down: “Because of delays and regulatory permitting,” he said, the projects ended up costing more money and time than anticipated.
A divided council
Several council members — but not the majority — previously said that tying unfinished projects to the controversial Mark Clark project was bad governance.
“To attach [the new sales tax] to 526 is politically unfair and is just not right,” council member Henry Darby at a May 30 council meeting. “This trepidation of not separating [the issues] is beyond comprehension.”
Kobrovsky agreed.
“My fear is that we will jeopardize ongoing projects from the [2016] sales tax,” he said. “By lumping it all, we’re holding hostage all these other projects to 526.”
But those in favor of the referendum said joining the projects under one ballot question would avoid splitting up the projects, which could cause division among county residents.
“Good governance dictates against policies that promote sectionalism,” council member Jenny Honeycutt told the Charleston City Paper. “That is why I am opposed to separating any projects that pit one area of the county against another.”
So what’s covered?
The Mark Clark extension project takes up more than a third of the “sales tax pie” for road projects covered in the proposed referendum. The potpourri of projects county council agreed to add can be amended up the third reading, but several projects are already included:
- Additional lanes to Maybank Highway between River Road and the Stono River Bridge on Johns Island — $51.55 million
- Additional lanes to Maybank Highway between Bohicket Road and River Road on Johns Island — $126 million
- Adding bike lanes and sidewalks along Folly Road between George Griffith Boulevard and Sol Legare Road on James Island — $30.5 million
- Flood mitigation improvements along Long Point Road from Whipple Road to U.S. Highway 17 in Mount Pleasant — $126 million
- Realignment of Darrell Creek Trail to intersect with Lieben Road in Mount Pleasant — $46 million
- Sidewalk/multi-use path construction along the Rivers Avenue corridor in North Charleston — $142 million
- Construction of a multi-use path along Mall Drive between Lacross Road and Rivers Avenue in North Charleston — $72 million
- Construction pedestrian/bike bridge alongside the North Bridge to connect West Ashley and North Charleston — $83 million
- Widening projects along Savannah Highway between Dobbin Road and Main Road in West Ashley — $174 million
- Additional lanes to Ashley River Road from Bees Ferry Road to Old Parsonage Road in West Ashley — $102 million
- Flood mitigation improvements to the U.S. Highway 17/S.C. Highway 61 off-ramp in West Ashley — $36.5 million
- Construction of an overpass for eastbound traffic on Glenn McConnell Parkway at Magwood Drive in West Ashley — $194 million
If the proposed referendum goes to the ballot in November and fails, not only would the Mark Clark project remain unfunded, but so would all of the projects listed above — and any others county council adds to the list prior to its final passage.
Anna Garziera and Skyler Baldwin contributed to this story.
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