Council Oks Referendum on Roads
Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer
Anderson County Council on Tuesday gave final approval to a proposal to allow voters the option of funding road/bridge repairs via a one-percent tax through a referendum on Nov. 4.
The county currently has a backlog of more than $350 million in transportation projects related to road and bridge repair. If approved, the new sales tax will provide the funding to address all projects, many of which have been neglected for years due to lack of funding. Between 30-40 percent, roughly $140 million, is expected to be paid by visitors or those passing through Anderson County.
Referendum ballot question and full list of roads to be repaired in story here.
Two members of Anderson County’s Legislative Delegation attended the meeting, reading from prepared statements critical of both the referendum and county council. Both suggested there were other sources of funding for roads, attacking the county’s use of fee in lieu of tax incentives to attract new industry. Neither directly referenced the proposed wording or road priority list on the referendum.
S.C. Rep. Lee Gilreath, Rep-Anderson Dist. 7, said he had attended four council meetings and accused the council of ignoring citizen comments.
“Every meeting has been the same where taxpaying citizens have stood up to speak and express their concerns,” said Gilreath, reading from his prepared remarks. “Not only does their concern seem to fall on deaf ears, your (reference to County Council Chairman Tommy Dunn) belligerent attitude towards the people with concerns is unacceptable.”
“We need affirmation that this increased funding would be used to do the repairs for our roads throughout Anderson County, repairing the worst roads first within the highest traffic count, first and not promoting projects that will only benefit economic growth,” Gilreath read from his prepared remarks. “This is all about economic growth in this county, and I can't help but think this one percent tax will be wasted on the same nonessential applications.”
“We've all heard the same pitch before: growth brings jobs, prosperity, and a better life for all. But let's stop and ask for whom,” said S.C. Rep. April Cromer, Rep-Anderson Dist. 6, who also read from her prepared remarks during the public comment time at the council meeting. “Let's be honest: who will shoulder this burden? It won't be the tourists or the visiting fishermen. It will be the young mothers trying to buy formula and diapers, seniors grabbing dinner at a local restaurant, working families shopping for cereal and or school supplies. One percent may not sound like much in the budget room, but in a grocery aisle it might. It matters to the people here that are crying out and begging you to understand they're on a fixed budget.”
The proposed referendum excludes groceries and prescription medications and gasoline at the pumps from the one-percent tax.
“The fact is, we need about 30-40 million dollars a year to pave county roads,” said County Councilman Jimmy Davis. “We have almost 1,600 miles of county roads and I drive on every day just like you do. And to be frank, they suck. And the road I live on is a little narrow country road. It probably was once a cow path, and there's over 5,000 cars a day that go down that road every day.”
“We've got to find a way to fund it,” said Davis. “Mr. Gilreath, Ms. Cromer, I applaud your efforts. If you can go to the state and get us the money we need to every one of us up here will support you 100 percent, because we would love to have the money from the state. The state's got an awful lot of money sitting down there, and they have for quite some time.”
Davis said the county and municipalities need the new source of funding now. “It's our number one asset that we have and we've got to figure out how to take care of our number one asset,” said Davis. “So Instead of us passing the tax as a council, we're putting them back out there as a referendum. We've got to figure out as we begin to how to take care of the roads, and I just don't know where else we can get that thirty or forty million dollars. I love every person here, whether we agree or not. And I just want you to know the facts. We're not voting to raise your taxes; we're voting to allow citizens to decide.”
Some on council also raised the issue of public safety related to the current state of the roads.
“I spent 26 years running these roads in a city car and a highway patrol (as a law enforcement officer) car when I retired,” said Councilman Greg Elgin. “I'm still a volunteer fireman, I'm out there at 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning still to this day getting trees up road working wrecks, fighting fires, everything else. So I am out here getting my hands dirty and I know what these roads are like because I have driven them forever. It’s now up to voters. All we're doing is putting it on the ballot.”
“I don't know that we can blame all of it on our roads for this, but I get way too many emails, three or four a week. of coroners responding to an accident,” said Councilman Chris Sullivan. “I've talked to our coroner's office and they're like, we're on the worst roads you can be out there in the county, and they're not safe, they're not good. So, what are our options? Can we just let this keep going?”
Members of the Capital Sales Tax Commission see no other option if roads and bridges are to be repaired..
Matt Reeves, one of the six commissioners said he has witnessed the problem growing.
“Our roads are terrible. When I say that we'll take this money and improve our roads, that's what I mean,” said Reeves, who also said he didn’t trust any government on any level. “We'll take this money and improve just our roads, we're going to fix the roads. There is no other money that can be moved from somewhere else to fix our roads.
“I can promise you: my guys back there (roads commissioners), we're going to spend every penny fixing your roads.”
“Every few days I drive down the same road and I avoid one pot hole,” said Commissioner Michael Mance. “And one day I hit the pot hole and one tire cost me $250, so I did the math. You would have to spend $10,000 to even spend $100 with this tax. So for me, the math makes sense just from that alone. At the very core, taxes are meant to pay for these types of things.
Mance said the commission explored many possible sources of revenue, including vehicle fees, but none of the other options genereated anywhere near enough funding for the current needs.
The referendum will now appear on the Nov. 4 ballot countywide.
