Subcommittee holds S.317 on boat property tax after wide testimony on revenue tradeoffs

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 represents a substantial industry and argued the bill would recapture registrations and generate more sustained revenue over time: "this tax cut would actually result in more revenue for the counties, because we're currently losing a lot of tax dollars to other states."

Manufacturers and professional anglers described the bill as relief for working families and for small, state-based boat builders. Patricia Roland, owner of Tide Boats in Georgetown, said her firm builds 14- to 17-foot fiberglass boats for the local market and said high taxes reduce demand and harm small manufacturers and related businesses. Professional angler Brian New said he paid more than $3,600 in boat taxes last year and called the current burden unaffordable for working families.

County auditors and a Charleston official presented a conflicting fiscal picture. "We have 350,000 boats registered in South Carolina. However, of that number, only 216 pay property taxes," Owen McBride told the committee, arguing that many registered boats do not generate local property-tax revenue today. Charleston County's representative highlighted that county ad valorem millages and higher-value coastal vessels mean the county currently collects about $19 million annually in watercraft-related revenue; the county warned that a 50% cut in assessed value could not be offset by plausible repatriation of registrations and would require either cuts in services or higher taxes elsewhere.

Audit offices and the School Boards Association supplied county-by-county estimates showing potential multi-million-dollar revenue losses in several counties; witnesses warned those losses would be categorized under existing state law as a tax shift and that school districts and other taxing entities would face shortfalls unless the state or counties took compensating action. Oconee and Union county auditors detailed how a significant cut would translate into higher millage rates on general property tax bills for homeowners and businesses.

Committee members repeatedly asked staff and witnesses for additional, county-level fiscal analysis. Several senators expressed a desire to reduce high rates and said they were open to a phased implementation or narrower approaches based on boat value rather than a blanket 50% cut. Representative Brewer, sponsor of a companion House bill, said the measure originated from constituent concerns and pledged to work with stakeholders.

After extended testimony and discussion the subcommittee voted to carry the bill over for further work and requested more detailed fiscal impacts and options such as phased implementation, value thresholds and titling changes that others testified could reduce avoidance. The chair said the committee needs more time and shared data before forwarding a recommendation to the full Finance Committee.

The outcome leaves S.317 under active consideration but not reported out; committee staff were asked to compile detailed fiscal estimates and stakeholder-proposed compromise language before the next hearing.