County Considers Asking Voters to Decide on Penny Sales Tax for Roads
Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer
Anderson County Council on Tuesday moved ahead with consideration of a 2024 referendum to create a penny sales tax to pay for roads.
Funding for roads and bridges has been lacking for decades in the county, which has 1,534 miles of county roads, and the new proposal would generate an estimated $30 million annually. The additional funds would be used exclusively for roads and could not be transferred into other parts of the budget. Other ideas such as a vehicle fee, which could raise $3 million per year were rejected in favor of asking voters to approve a penny tax.
“It is the best option we have right now,” said County Council Vice Chairman Brett Sanders, who said one of the main goals moving forward was to properly educate citizens on the potential plan.
The tax would not be permanent, but county council could set the expiration date as far as 25 years down the road.
Council was in unanimous agreement in moving ahead with hammering out details of a plan which would be put before voters in the 2024 general elections.
Deadline to submit the plan for the ballot is August of 2024, but Anderson County Council Chairman Tommy Dunn suggested Tuesday council will have details in place for the public to study in the months ahead.
“We want transparency in this,” said Sanders. “It should be clear to citizens what we are proposing and why it is needed to maintain, repair and replace our aging roads and bridges.”
The cost of road repair has grown with the need. To repair a county road costs an average of $600,000 per mile, and can cost more than $1 million per mile on roads which due to weather, aging of other factors are in poor condition.
The Anderson County Roads and Bridges Department is working on an updated comprehensive study of all county roads and bridges and their condition.
Dunn said the need is acute, but council will leave it up to voters to decide.
Meanwhile council passed first reading of a proposal to allow officials to implement clear bag policies for all county buildings. The request came from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department.
Anderson County Administrator Rusty Burns said many events at the civic center already require clear bags for those attending events, and that the new policy, if approved, will allow security in each of the county-owned buildings to decide if such a policy makes sense.