Penny tax talk is back amid needed Lexington County road improvements

Lexington County is starting to prepare for the next time the capital penny sales tax will be on the ballot.

Road improvements and the penny tax often go hand-in-hand across South Carolina communities and beyond; that’s surely the case with Lexington County, the state’s 17th largest county, according to the Census.

With a population of almost 300,000 and further predicted growth, Lexington County roads are struggling to keep up, and while the penny sales tax would not be solely responsible for fixing them, it’s certainly a large pot the county would pull from to improve infrastructure.

While the county does receive small portions of federal funds for road projects, these are administered through the S.C. Department of Transportation and are mostly used for interstates and other state-maintained areas.

Decision time for the penny tax likely would not take place until 2026, according to earlier reporting from the Chronicle, and if voters approve it, the Capital Project Sales Tax (CPST) would impose a 1% sales tax on most purchases made by anyone in Lexington County, except items such as groceries, gasoline and prescriptions.

This money would go toward things like repaving, resurfacing, stormwater drainage, intersection improvement, dirt road paving and bridge repair, according to the county’s website.

A penny tax approval could be less burdensome on Lexington County locals, since the 1% sales tax would be imposed on anyone making purchases (excluding groceries, gasoline and prescriptions) in Lexington County whether they are residents or not, whereas a hike in millage, a possible alternative to funding infrastructure improvements, would fall solely on residents paying property taxes.

2024 reporting from the Chronicle says that the penny tax became more prevalent on county council members’ minds after failing to pass an annual $30 vehicle registration fee aimed at raising $8 million to improve roads.

Voters in Lexington County have twice rejected a penny sales tax. It failed in 2022 by a vote of 45.35% in favor and 54.65% opposed. In 2014, it failed by a larger margin, with 69.61% voting against the tax, according to earlier reporting.

A 2023 study found that 38% of the county’s roadways were in “fair or poor” condition and that by the end of the decade, 70% of the roads would be in such condition unless action is taken ahead of time.

During the Feb. 11 Lexington County Council meeting, there was talk of forming a capital sales tax committee, a first step to getting the penny tax referendum on an upcoming ballot.

“We’ve had some interest in that,” Council Chairman Todd Cullum said during the meeting. “We’re underway with that.”

The Committee of the Whole has penny sales tax commission appointments listed as a discussion item on the Feb. 25 agenda. That meeting occurred after the Chronicle deadline.