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Subcommittee holds S.317 on boat property tax after wide testimony on revenue tradeoffs
Summary
Stakeholders including boat manufacturers, anglers and county auditors presented sharply different views on S.317, which would cut assessed value for watercraft; auditors and school officials warned of large local revenue losses and a tax shift, and the subcommittee carried the bill over for further work.
A Senate Finance subcommittee heard hours of testimony on S.317, a bill that would change the property tax treatment of watercraft by setting assessed value at 50% of fair market value. Boat-industry groups, manufacturers and recreational anglers urged the subcommittee to reduce what they described as among the highest boat property tax burdens in the country; county auditors, the Charleston County official and school-district representatives warned the proposed change would shift large amounts of revenue away from local governments and suggested further analysis and slower implementation.
"South Carolina has some of the highest, if not the highest tax rates on boats in the entire country," Geddes Brannon, president and CEO of the South Carolina Boating and Fishing Alliance, told the committee. Brannon and other industry witnesses said high boat taxes drive registration and purchasing to neighboring states, reducing local economic activity and costing jobs. He told senators the alliance…
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