Public forum focuses on penny sales tax initiative

By: Thema Ponton | SCNOW
Published: October 16, 2008

Wednesday night, the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce hosted a public forum on the Horry County schools local option sales tax.

Representatives from the school district, including Superintendent Dr. Cynthia Elsberry, Will Garland, Kay Loftus, Harvey Eisner, and Eddie Rodelsperger were joined by Dr. Marilyn Fore, with Horry Georgetown Technical College to inform voters about the question that will be on the November ballot.

The question will read as follows:

Must a special one percent sales tax be imposed in Horry County for 15 years with the revenue of the tax used to pay directly, or indirectly, the cost or some or all of the cost of education capital improvement projects in Horry County. All revenue received by the school district from the sales and use tax will be used to reduce property taxes to pay debt service on school district bonds and to directly pay the costs of education capital improvement projects. Shared revenue will be used to pay debt service on bonds issued for Coastal Carolina University and Horry-Georgetown Technical College and directly pay the costs of education capital improvement projects.

Rodelsperger said "It is not an additional tax; it is an alternate source of revenue so when they go to the polls and they vote in November, they'll have the opportunity to decide whether they'd like to pay for schools through local option sales tax or continue to pay through property tax.

If the tax passes, it would go into effect in March 2009 and would be collected for 15 years.

If you have questions or concerns, e-mail penny@horrycountyschools.net or log on to www.horrycountyschools.net.