Back to May 2006 Releases
05/23/2006
Gov. Sanford Calls for Expanded Tax Relief
Governor: Don't Leave Taxpayers Out of the Budget
Columbia, S.C. - Governor Mark Sanford today renewed his call for expanded tax relief this year, calling on budget writers in the General Assembly to return more of the almost $1 billion new dollars coming into Columbia this year to the taxpayers of this state. Rather than return a significant portion of the new money to South Carolinians' wallets and pocketbooks, plans currently under consideration by budget writers grow spending by roughly 16 percent -- more than four times the growth in South Carolinians' personal income.
"In January, we put forth a budget that fully funded the Base Student Cost, put 100 new Troopers on the road, fully funded Medicaid, repaid our state's past debts, and returned a significant dividend to the taxpayers of this state," Gov. Sanford said. "Despite the new money that's flowed into Columbia since then, budget writers are traveling down a path toward significantly increasing spending rather than returning a dividend to hardworking South Carolinians. Once again, I want to be unequivocally clear to members of the General Assembly intent on spending nearly every dime - whether it's a direct rebate to taxpayers, additional property tax relief or suspending the gasoline tax, taxpayers cannot be left out of the equation as this budget process winds to a close."
This year, over $580 million additional recurring dollars on top of over $380 million new one-time dollars are expected to come into state government coffers. By sticking to Gov. Sanford's spending cap proposal, more than $290 million could be returned to taxpayers on a recurring basis, and more than $340 million could be returned on a one-time basis. That tax relief could be given in the following ways:
* Using the entire surplus, each South Carolina family would receive a one-time income tax rebate of $660.
* Or, using the entire surplus, every South Carolina homeowner could receive a one-time property tax rebate of $473 and a permanent 65 percent reduction of the school operating portion of property taxes for primary residences - without raising other taxes.
* Using the recurring surplus only, the income tax rate could be permanently cut from 7 percent to 6 percent.
* Using the one-time surplus only, motorists could be exempted from state gas taxes for up to 8 months.