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Local Property Taxes for Schools
Beginning in 2008 homeowners no longer pay property taxes on their primary residence for public school operations. However, homeowners still pay property taxes for school construction debt service. The change in 2008 was due to legislation passed by our state legislature in 2006 called Act 388.
Act 388 eliminated the property tax for school operations on owner-occupied homes. It also increased the state sales tax by one cent-the sales tax went from 5% to 6%. Under the law the revenue generated by the additional penny tax is put in a special fund to reimburse school districts for lost property tax revenue.
Since the beginning, the amount of revenue generated by the sales tax increase has not been sufficient to cover the amount the state owes school districts for lost taxes. For the current school year and the previous two years, the shortfall in revenue has exceeded $100 million. Under the law the state must use money from the state general fund to make up the difference. This means there is $100 million less in the state general fund for "regular" funding of public education as well as to fund other essential state services.
On your annual property tax notice the amount and the percentage of property taxes listed for Greenville County Schools is much higher than what you actually pay to support our public schools. Most of this amount-the amount for school operations-is eliminated from your bill under the heading "School Tax Credit Savings." The difference between the listed school district amount and the tax credit amount is the only school tax you are actually paying, and this is the amount to support school construction and expansion--costs which the district pays off over a number of years. Under state law school district funds for construction cannot be used to fund operations.
Did You Know?
Currently in our school district 20% of the school buses used each day are more than 20 years old including some with over 400,000 miles. South Carolina is the only state that provides buses for their school districts. The state has provided only one new bus for our district in the last three years.
Source of district bus data: Greenville County Schools Dept. of Transportation.
Questions? Need more information?
Craig Stine
Public Policy & Research Manager
Public Education Partners (www.PEPGC.org)
864-233-9535
craig@PublicEdPartnersGC.org
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