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Assessor seeks reassessment funds; delinquent tax collector proposes $25 bidder fee for tax sales
Summary
The assessor requested a FY26 reassessment special project budget and a salary adjustment for a transfer clerk; delinquent tax collector Jennifer Page proposed a $25 bidder registration fee for county tax sales to offset auction costs.
Lancaster County’s assessor and delinquent tax collector presented separate budget‑related requests to the County Council Committee of the Whole on Wednesday.
Brad Carnes of the assessor’s office summarized his department’s service workload and asked for special project funding tied to the county’s property reassessment. Carnes said state law requires the county to mail assessment notices to all property owners and that the reassessment project would require postage, printing and other operating costs. "That's going to be right at 57,000 notices," Carnes said, describing the scale of the mailing for roughly 57,000 parcels.
Carnes told council his office reviewed about 11,000 parcels in fiscal year 2024, added 867 new structures and processed more than 5,400 property transfers. He also asked for modest increases to cover software contract realignments and for a salary adjustment for a long‑tenured transfer‑clerk performing expanded duties.
Jennifer Page, delinquent tax collector and head of the combined passport and records programs, asked council to authorize a $25 bidder registration fee for county tax‑sale auctions. Page said a 2024 tax sale had 325 registrants and estimated the fee could generate approximately $56,000 to cover auctioneer costs, copies and supplies. "This is a common practice in the state of South Carolina," Page told council, adding jurisdictions in the state sometimes use bidder fees to offset operating costs for tax sales.
Page told council the tax sale process generated about $3.3 million in taxes and bids in 2024; she also said redemption activity continues and that tax‑sale overage revenue — funds held for five years by state law before transfer to the general fund — typically provides $35,000 to $40,000 to the county annually.
Council members asked staff to include the bidder‑registration fee in the county fee schedule for review and formal adoption as part of the overall FY26 budget and fee‑schedule update.
