Municipal elections are November 4, but early voting has already begun. Visit www.SCVotes.gov to find your polling place.
Your REALTORS® Association has prepared a Voter Guide to help you evaluate the candidates and issues. You can download the REALTOR® Voter Guide by clicking here.
Around the Western Upstate, 15 cities and towns will hold elections for 5 mayors and 44 council and commission seats. Plus, some voters will consider ballot questions.
Anderson County Capital Projects Sales Tax
Anderson County Council placed a referendum on the ballot about whether an additional 1% sales tax should be assessed in the county—a similar referendum was asked in 2024.
If the voters approve, an additional 1% sales tax will be collected in Anderson County for 7 years. Unprepared foods (groceries), prescription drugs, and gasoline are exempt.
The proceeds will be used to repave an estimated 250 miles of county- or city-maintained roads, replace 16 bridges, and improve 20 accident-prone intersections around the county. The total project list is close to $370 million, which is about what the additional sales tax is expected to generate. If it generates more, or if the projects cost less than anticipated, there are provisional projects on the list as well.
A second question asks for permission to borrow about $15 million to help kick start the program because the tax, if approved, will not take effect until May 2026. The bonds will be paid back from the new sales tax.
Doesn’t the County Have Enough Money?
In short, no. All property taxes generate about $250 million per year in Anderson County. Of that amount, about $170 million is spent on schools. The rest, about $80 million, funds everything from law enforcement to EMS to codes enforcement to public works to the jail. Even our elections come out of that money. There isn’t much available to maintain our roads, and it shows.
Anderson County receives about $4 million per year from the state for road paving. And some of our roads are eligible for federal and state funding. But it’s clear that more money is needed to adequately maintain our roads.
This new money will not be used to build new roads; just repair the ones we already have.
Why Your REALTORS® Association is Supporting it
Your association’s government affairs team and Board of Directors thoroughly considered this issue and found five compelling reasons to support the penny sales tax referendum:
One: Unlike last year’s referendum, this proposal will pay for maintenance of our existing county roads. Only maintenance—no new roads will be built. And only roads that are maintained by the county and its 8 cities—no state roads.
Two: The condition of our roads is consistently mentioned when the public speaks against proposed new housing. The result is that new home building is not keeping up with Anderson County’s growing population because our roads aren’t up to the task.
Three: Because home building is not keeping up with demand, families are increasingly having difficulty finding a house that meets their needs. And what is available is increasingly less affordable. Studies show that only about 20% of families can afford to buy a house.
Four: This is a selfish point, but one that Realtors should still consider: if a house isn’t built, for any reason, you won’t have the opportunity to participate in its sale. And in the future, when it comes time for the first owner to sell, you won’t have the opportunity to participate in that sale either.
The average house sells once every 14 years. Over the 100-year life of a house, that’s 8 sales that will not occur. Again, it’s selfish, but not that selfish because a lot of business opportunities will be lost: the initial construction, multiple repairs, remodels, and maintenance, insurance policies, mortgages, years of furnishing and redecorating, and even appliances won’t be purchased by the owners of that house.
But the biggest loss is that 8 families won’t have the opportunity to call that house their home.
Five: This is the best solution to the problem. The SC Department of Revenue says that 40% of the tax will be paid by people who don’t live in Anderson County. It will provide a dedicated source of revenue to maintain the 1,550 miles of county- and city-maintained roads in the county.
Over time, if voters like the results, they’ll have an opportunity to continue contributing to the maintenance of county roads. If they don’t, they can vote no in the future. But if it’s not approved, Anderson County Council will have to make an even harder decision to increase property taxes to finally begin maintaining county roads. And the county’s 8 cities will need to do the same.
And that increase will be far less than what a penny sales tax will raise. Road maintenance will be much slower—and so will home building.
No one likes to pay more taxes. But in this case, it’s clear that Anderson County needs to address the problem of its roads. Your REALTORS® Association made the difficult decision to support this proposal and recommends that you vote in favor of it.
VOTE
If you haven’t already done so, vote early or make plans to VOTE on November 4. But before you vote, click here for the REALTOR® Voter Guide and learn about the candidates.
You and your association can influence how your government affects you and regulates your industry. NAR data tells us that more than 90 percent of Realtors are registered to vote. Imagine the influence Realtors could have if all Realtors voted.
Support RPAC
You can help your industry by supporting RPAC. It’s easy. Your association includes a voluntary contribution to RPAC on your annual dues invoice. Pay it, and you are an RPAC supporter. If you haven’t supported RPAC this year, I encourage you to do so by clicking here.
Michael Dey, Director of Government Affairs