(Posted on November 5, 2008)

For the last few months you may have read about or heard us talk about the local option sales tax for educational facilities. On Election Day, 67 percent of Horry County voters elected to add a penny of sales tax as a way to roll-back property taxes for debt service and create an additional revenue stream to support capital needs for schools. The penny is expected to generate more than one billion dollars over 15 years and will be shared among Horry County Schools, (80 percent); Coastal Carolina University (13.3 percent) and Horry Georgetown Technical College (6.7 percent).

Currently, the capital needs for K-12 public schools are paid for solely by property taxes. The penny sales tax will allow for all consumers, including more than 14 million people who visit our area each year, to help support the needs of educational facilities. Penny revenues will allow the school district to reduce the debt service millage from 28 to 24 mills in 2009 and further reduce the millage to 10 mills by 2010. In addition to rolling-back property taxes and broadening the tax base, the penny sales tax will enable Horry County Schools, Coastal Carolina University, and Horry Georgetown Technical College to collaborate on more shared initiatives to increase access and services to students of all ages. The penny will also allow our three public educational systems to respond to the demands of growth in enrollment. Horry County Schools is one of the fastest growing school districts in South Carolina, adding 10,000 students in the last decade. Horry Georgetown Technical College and Coastal Carolina University are the fastest growing schools among two-year and four-year colleges and universities in the state.

The penny sales tax will be collected beginning in March of 2009 and does not apply to groceries, gasoline or prescription drugs.

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Click here to read more about the penny.