Staff outlines fee-in-lieu terms for Project Clean, council approves finance items

Charleston County Council approved finance directorate items after a staff presenter described proposed incentives for a project identified as "Project Clean".

A staff member said the package would provide a benefit of "$1,500,000 over 20 years," structured as a fee in lieu of taxes, and estimated a fiscal benefit-to-cost ratio of 8 to 1. The presenter said total taxes collected on the site over the past five years were $24,764 and that, upon approval, the site would generate "$376,186 every 5 years, which is a 1400% increase." The staff member described the fee-in-lieu as offering certainty about tax payments over 20 years rather than a reduction in tax rate.

Council member Larry Kabrowski (District 2) sought clarification on trade-offs and whether the arrangement reduced current tax liabilities: "There's no reduction in in what they're being taxed?" the council member asked. The staff member replied that the incentive is a fee-in-lieu that provides certainty in annual payments and is not a tax cut.

After brief discussion, the chair called the vote and the council approved the finance items by voice vote; the clerk recorded one nay on one vote but the motion carried. The council did not provide a roll-call tally in the public transcript.

Why it matters: The fee-in-lieu structure is intended to make projected tax receipts more predictable for the developer over two decades, while county officials argued the arrangement will substantially increase collections compared with recent years. Council members sought clarity on whether the measure reduces taxes (it does not, per staff).

What happens next: The approved finance items will proceed under the terms described; no further amendments were recorded during the meeting.