County to ask voters to extend half-cent tax to bring in billions

MORNING NEWSBREAK | Charleston County Council on Tuesday night voted 6-2 to ask voters in November to extend a transportation sales tax.

Opposing the measure were council members Larry Kobrovsky of Sullivan’s Island and Rob Wehrman of North Charleston. Henry Darby of North Charleston, who previously opposed the measure, was absent.

The ballot referendum would extend a current half-cent tax approved in 2016. Renewal of the half-cent tax would fund the county’s share of the $2.3 billion Mark Clark extension project plus more than $2 billion in other projects. Funding also would include borrowing of more than $600 million to pay interest costs on a $1.8 billion loan to pay its share of the road extension project from West Ashley across Johns Island to James Island.

Areas including James Island, John’s Island, West Ashley, Mount Pleasant, North Charleston and the upper peninsula of Charleston are supposed to receive roadway improvements as well.

Kobrovsky, who voted against the referendum, criticized the proposal, saying that more than half of the money would be used toward the Mark Clark expansion project, leaving little for the other projects listed.

“If it’s going to be a legitimate referendum, people need to know when they vote for something that the projects listed will be built, but we know going into this that they’re not going to be. They’re just a wish list,” Kobrovsky said.

Kobrovsky added that projects from the previous transportation sales tax referendum from 2016 haven’t even started yet. The new tax would pay for millions of dollars of work that was supposed to be covered by the 2016 referendum.

“I strongly urge people to use fiscal sanity and reject it and make them come back and put something on the table that addresses our county needs in a way that makes fiscal sense and can be morally acceptable,” Kobrovsky said.

In other news today:

Coast Guard releases ship that caused closure of Ravenel Bridge. The container ship whose malfunction prompted an emergency closure of the Arthur Ravenel Bridge in June has been cleared to leave the Charleston area.

Charleston Co. passes historic building moratorium. Three African American settlement communities in Charleston County will be temporarily protected from large developments under a newly-approved building moratorium.

West Ashley’s Sam Rittenberg corridor eyed for redevelopment. Charleston is considering form-based zoning for two commercial corridors as part of the planning department’s overhaul of regulations that guide growth and development.

OLYMPICS: How Charleston shaped Olympians Saunders, Camacho-Quinn and Navarro. Charleston had a hand in shaping the lives of three athletes who will compete in the Olympics, which start July 26 in Paris. Two of them — shot-putter Raven Saunders from Burke High School and hurdler Jasmine Camacho-Quinn from Fort Dorchester High School — already have won Olympic medals. Navarro, who is among five Americans ranked in the top 15 of the WTA Tour, will be making her Olympic debut.

North Charleston manufacturer goes from garage to warehouse. Allegiance Flag Supply now produces between 1,100 and 1,200 American flags a day — 100 times the amount it produced in 2018. The company continues to grow, having recently announced a $6.3 million expansion in Charleston County.