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Subcommittee gives favorable report to bill clarifying textile‑mill tax‑credit eligibility
Summary
A House Ways and Means subcommittee voted to forward House Bill 5488, which clarifies eligibility rules for tax credits under the South Carolina Textiles Communities Revitalization Act to support multi‑phase, multi‑parcel mill redevelopments, after developer testimony and brief questioning.
A House Ways and Means subcommittee voted to give a favorable report to House Bill 5488, a measure that clarifies eligibility for tax credits under the South Carolina Textiles Communities Revitalization Act and is intended to make large, multi‑phase textile‑mill redevelopments more feasible.
Staff told the panel that HB 5488 would require that any textile mill included in a notice of intent to rehabilitate be renovated or demolished to qualify for the credit and that each notice be evaluated independently. The summary cited the statute as Section 12‑65‑28(A).
A representative of the Sherbert Group, who identified his firm and described its work redeveloping textile mills but did not give a personal name on the record, told the subcommittee that a Department of Revenue interpretation of the statute had made multi‑phase, multi‑parcel projects economically infeasible. He said that interpretation effectively made each parcel and taxpayer dependent on every other parcel completing redevelopment, which differs from the industry’s prior understanding. “That makes large mill site redevelopments much less feasible,” he said, and he cited Drayton Mills in Spartanburg and the University Center project in Rock Hill as examples of multi‑phase sites that have been redeveloped over several years.
Representative Taylor asked how long developers had relied on the previous interpretation; the Sherbert Group representative said roughly 18 years and added that the organization has discussed the matter with the Department of Revenue, which followed the existing statutory text. He urged a statutory correction rather than leaving the interpretation in administrative guidance.
The subcommittee then voted to give HB 5488 a favorable report to the full Ways and Means Committee. Staff called the roll; members present voted in favor. The bill will next be considered by the full committee.
The record does not include a fiscal‑impact estimate in the testimony; any revenue effects were not specified in the hearing record.
