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Beaufort County advisory committee narrows planning range for transportation sales tax to 6—10 years; staff to model scenarios and compile member priorities
Summary
After staff presented DOR-based revenue scenarios and a binder of prioritized projects, the Transportation Advisory Committee asked staff to model options between roughly 6 and 10 years, and members will submit prioritized project lists by April 13 for a working session in late April.
Beaufort County staff told the Transportation Advisory Committee they had refined Department of Revenue estimates for a potential one-cent transportation sales tax and asked the committee to choose a planning horizon.
"That $75,000,000 a year increased to approximately $90,000,000 a year," staff (Jared Freilich) told the committee while reviewing a DOR letter and the binder's section 11 revenue worksheet. Using DOR-based projections, staff presented illustrative totals: roughly $775 million over eight years, about $1.02 billion over 10 years, and larger totals for 15—25-year horizons; staff framed these as planning "buckets" to size priorities.
Committee members sharply debated duration and scale. Some members favored longer asks (one member argued for 25 years), while others urged restraint and pointed to the failed 2024 referendum; staff and multiple members said lack of specificity in the prior ballot question was a principal lesson. Several committee participants urged that deliverable outcomes ' visible projects residents can "put their hands on" ' are essential if a levy is sent to voters.
Rather than set a binding proposal, the committee agreed to a strawman direction for staff: prepare scenario outputs for multiple horizons between roughly 6 and 10 years (staff will show 6,7,8,9,10-year cases), produce an updated, color-coded Excel and a GIS map of proposed projects, and compile member submittals. Staff asked members to email their top projects (project ID and exact project name from the binder) by April 13; staff said it will return a compiled list and maps before the April 22 public meeting and a working meeting on May 6, with a target presentation to county council in mid-May.
Why it matters: The horizon the committee picks will determine the scale of funds available for resurfacing, widening, intersection improvements, and pathways and will shape recommendations to county council. Members repeatedly warned that overly broad or vague ballot language contributed to prior defeat of a transportation measure and that the committee needs clear, fundable projects to persuade voters.
Next steps: Staff will model 6—10-year scenarios, produce GIS visuals of geographic distribution and overlap, and circulate a compiled list of member-prioritized projects. The committee will review the results at its next public and working meetings ahead of the council recommendation.
