Greenville’s Penny Tax commission meets, public input opportunities coming soon

Greenville’s Penny Tax commission meets, public input opportunities coming soon

Greenville County is on the path of creating another penny sales tax referendum. Really the work is just beginning. The special commission tasked with choosing the projects for the penny, held their first meeting Monday afternoon.

“This will be a challenge because there are so many needs and we also want to be sure that we represent everyone in the county,” said Capital Projects Sales Tax Commissioner Gaye Sprauge.

Sprauge is a former Greenville city councilwoman and one of the six commissioners tasked with creating the question for your ballot. In other words, they decide which projects would be funded if you vote “yes” to a penny tax.

Addressing Critical Needs

“The health, safety and welfare of our citizens depends on this and I think it’s also very important to note that the longer you let failing roads go, the more expensive it is to fix them,” she said.

Monday’s meeting eased commissioners into their new role, briefing them on what the problem is.

“It’s virtually impossible to address the needs with the tools that we currently have at our disposal,” said Tee Coker, the Assistant Administrator for Community Planning and Development.

Greenville gains about $12 million a year from the $25 road maintenance fee. But staff says the problem is nearly $2 billion deep.

Learning from the Past

The county has been here before, but back in 2014 voters did not approve the penny tax. So this commission is hoping to do things differently and create a list of projects voters will support. Without a tax on medication and groceries.

“How do you put this diverse group of projects into priorities,” is their focus, Sprauge said.

Since 2014, none of the 75 projects chosen by the first penny tax commission have been funded. The commission will begin by hearing a proposal from county staff at the next meeting, detailing what their research found to be priority projects. From there—they’ll make changes, decide how long the tax will last and where every penny is spent.

Investing in the Future

“This is really an investment in the future, to fix as many roads as we can now,” she said.

These commission meetings are open to the public and held in the County Square Committee room at 5:30pm unless stated otherwise. The county will begin hosting a series of community feedback meetings soon.

To stay up to date visit GreenvilleCountyRoads.com