ANDERSON COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) – The fate of whether or not there will be a Penny Sales Tax to fix roads and bridges is in the hands of Anderson County voters.
Over 1,500 miles of county roads and 150 bridges are in need of repair. County Administrator, Rusty Burns, said adding a penny to every purchase except groceries, pharmaceuticals and gasoline would generate enough money to fix roads and bridges.
“The advantage of the penny sales tax is that a great deal of that money would be paid for by people who don’t live in Anderson County, but have traveled through Anderson County,” Burns said. “They’re going to Clemson football games, Anderson University football games and people coming here for the many fishing tournaments. We have a variety of reasons to raise a whole lot of money. It would be exclusively on the county taxpayers, but they would have other people paying into that fund.”
The ballot question before the voters is whether or not they want the county to go through with this.
“I’m not trying to persuade anybody. I’m just trying to lay out the facts. The people will make this decision. Nobody’s trying to ram this down anybody’s throat, but it is an option for the people to consider to improve the road situation in Anderson County. That’s really it in a nutshell,” said Burns.
County leaders said if majority votes “yes”, the penny sales tax will begin in 2025 and will last until 2032. The goal is to raise $336 million over the seven year period.
Officials said crews have already completed a study of what roads would need to be paved first which are Cherokee Road, Wilton E Hall Road, Cely Road, and Marret Road.
“State law says if it is approved, it can only last for seven years then it has to go away,” said Burns. “The county could then opt to put it back on the ballot again for the voters to decide, but county council cannot just keep it going forever and ever.”
If majority vote “no”, county leaders said they would have to figure out another way to fund fixing roads and bridges.
“But this would really jumpstart this situation and give us roads equivalent to what they have in North Carolina and Georgia,” said Burns.
Officials said that money would not be used for anything else.
“Nothing but roads and bridges and safety. That’s all that this money can be used for. It would be put into a separate account, which is audited yearly by the state,” said Burns.
