Beaufort County advisory committee weighs projects and a possible sales-tax referendum to pay for roads
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
The Transportation Advisory Committee set a schedule and began prioritizing projects for a potential November referendum to raise funds for road work; the county engineer estimated tourists could pay roughly 60% of a proposed sales tax, and the committee will continue community outreach.
The Transportation Advisory Committee on Feb. 18 set a six-week schedule for future meetings and began narrowing which projects could be included on a proposed November referendum to raise money for roads, the committee’s chair and the county’s director of engineering said.
"So it's estimated that in this, one of these sales taxes that tourists in Beaufort County will pay for about 60% of it," the director of engineering said during the committee update, describing the county's reliance on visitor-driven sales taxes to help fund transportation projects. Chair Lisa Sulka opened the meeting and asked members to vote on dates, times and locations for upcoming public sessions.
Why it matters: Beaufort County officials said the county manages about 3,000 miles of paved and unpaved roads and estimates about 1,000 of those are public roads maintained by the Department of Transportation, the county or municipalities. Committee members said limited funding and the scope of projects (size, cost and complexity) are central to deciding which projects to recommend for referendum funding.
What leaders said: Lisa Sulka, the committee chair, pressed members to prioritize projects by size, cost and scope and to move quickly on a schedule so public outreach can begin. The director of engineering said South Carolina has a large road network relative to its size and outlined the funding gap local governments face.
Public engagement and next steps: The committee plans to solicit community input at upcoming meetings and will make recorded meetings available through Beaufort County TV and the county's online channels. Officials urged residents to monitor county communications for schedules and opportunities to comment.
The county did not set a final referendum amount during the session; committee members discussed both the potential length of a sales tax and the amount to be collected, with no formal motion or vote recorded on a specific tax proposal.