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Staff outlines history of Beaufort County sales-tax programs and explains why the US‑278 bridge scope was reduced
Summary
Assistant county administrator Jared Freilix summarized three prior transportation sales-tax programs (1998, 2006, 2018), explained that inflation and a failed 2024 referendum created a funding gap, and described a scaled-back plan for the US‑278 bridge and prioritization of other projects.
Beaufort County staff told a newly formed advisory committee on Feb. 4 that the county has used local-option transportation sales tax repeatedly since 1998 to deliver major road, bridge and pathway projects and that inflation and a failed referendum have left the largest planned project, the US‑278 bridge corridor, with a funding shortfall.
"Beaufort County has a really strong history in local option sales tax," Assistant County Administrator Jared Freilix said in a 50‑minute history and status presentation. He reviewed three earlier transportation sales-tax efforts (1998, 2006 and 2018) and said the county collected about $146.5 million on the 2018 program once over‑collections were included.
Freilix told the committee that construction‑cost inflation and market shifts significantly increased estimates on large…
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