COASTAL OBSERVER

There are $254.3 million in requests for a share of Georgetown County’s proposed capital projects sales tax. Staff were still sorting through the 63 project proposals, two-thirds of which came in the final days before the deadline at midnight Monday.

“I do like the list we’ve got. I think it’s super,” said Mark Hawn, who chairs the Capital Project Sales Tax Commission that will review, rank and submit a referendum question to County Council to place on the November ballot. “It’s really aligned with the county’s needs.”

Since the commission was created late last year, members and county officials have been uncertain about how many requests would come in, particularly since those could only be submitted by the entity that would conduct the project. An effort to draft a sales tax referendum in 2020 was halted after it attracted over $459 million in project requests.

The commission had a list of 24 projects when it met last week. Walt Ackerman, the county Administrative Services director, who is working with the commission, said seven more arrived while he was on the way to the meeting.

Hawn expected the total would end up in the 30s.

“It’s going to make our job a lot tougher. We’re going to have to make some tough choices,” he said.

He was pleasantly surprised by the late surge.

“That just shows how much demand there is,” Hawn said. “Hopefully that translates into support from the voters.”

The commission must turn in a list of the projects in order of priority to County Council in early May. That will form the ballot question that will be presented to voters in a November referendum.

The council must vote to hold the referendum based on the commission’s proposed ballot. It cannot change the ballot.

The 1-cent tax is estimated to bring in $10 million a year. The commission can propose that the tax be implemented for up to eight years.

The list must also include contingency projects that will be funded if those that rank higher aren’t able to be built or if there is additional revenue.

County staff is organizing the project requests by geography and type for the commission to review and score.