Charleston County 2024 Half-Cent Sales and Use Tax Referendum: Summary with Pros and Cons

Charleston County 2024 Half-Cent Sales and Use Tax Referendum: Summary with Pros and Cons

LWV Charleston Area is not taking a position on this referendum. We offer this nonpartisan voter information ‘explainer’ to outline key arguments for and against, and to point voters to resources for their own investigation prior to casting their ballots in November.

Charleston County voters will be asked to vote Yes or No on a Special Sales and Use Tax Referendum in 2024. This is a transportation sales tax referendum asked in two questions. The first requests approval of a one-half percent sales tax to be imposed for up to 25 years, or until $5.4 billion is raised. This will fund highway and infrastructure projects, with priority focus on the 9-mile Interstate 526 extension. The second question requests approval to issue up to $1 billion dollars of general obligation bonds towards this effort.

Background:

This referendum, which has also been called the ‘third transportation tax’, would fund the expansion of Interstate 526, the Mark Clark Extension, as its priority project. If approved, more than $1.8 billion (approximately one-third of total raised funds) will be allocated to this effort, which will cost $2.3 billion based on current estimates. The I-526 extension would feed into the James Island Expressway on James Island, and on the other end, it would connect to the current I-526 Interchange, which comes off Savannah Highway in West Ashley. The connections would link the semicircle of roads through the Charleston peninsula, Mt Pleasant, North Charleston, and West Ashley. This expansion has been studied and considered for several decades and remains controversial. It was previously taken off of the transportation sales tax referendum in 2016.

Actual construction on the interstate would take years and would likely start in 2029.

This Yes/No chart provides representative opinions, and draws information from:
ABetterCharleston.org; CharlestonCounty.org; CharlestonBusiness.com; Coastal Conservation League; CBS Live5News.com (July 23, 2024; Sept 9 2024); NBC Counton2.com (July 24, 2024); SCDOTmarkclark.com; The Post and Courier (coverage throughout 2024).

Pros and Cons chart for 2024 Charleston Transportation Referendum

 *Charleston County Public Works Comment survey results, April 2024

This Post and Courier article has a list of the 13 lesser priority projects listed in the ordinance.

NEWS NOTE: The legality of this referendum was recently challenged in Circuit Court by the Coastal Conservation League and two area residents. They argued that local legal precedent requires that referendums must transparently allow voters to approve or disapprove funding for distinct items individually. On September 5, 2024, the Circuit Court ruled that the referendum will remain on the ballot, but that any alleged harm may be addressed after the election. As of publication of this explainer, an appeal is pending.

Additional sources for further research: