Council gives first reading to transportation sales-tax referendum; transit advocates urge keeping Green Link funding

Greenville County Council gave first reading to a proposed countywide 1% sales and use tax for transportation and referred the ordinance to Committee of the Whole for further review.

Counselor McGee moved to suspend council rules to permit a title-only presentation and then presented the ordinance that would place a 1% transportation sales tax before voters under South Carolina law. The motion to suspend the rules passed, and the council read the ordinance by title and referred it for committee consideration.

Public testimony earlier in the meeting pressed the council to preserve and expand local transit funding. Dr. Jeff Lawson told council he supports the transportation penny and DOT modernization tied to Senate Bill S0831. Hayden Keane, a Clemson civil engineering student, urged dedicating more resources to Green Link, noting Greenville's per-capita transit funding and ridership lag peers and estimating a penny tax could generate roughly $150 million annually in revenue countywide. "That additional funding would provide for additional access for people in need," Keane said.

Sandy Jordan, who represents AEL South Carolina (a disability-led nonprofit), warned council against cutting fixed-route bus service and relying only on paratransit. "By federal law under the Americans with Disabilities Act, paratransit does not exist in a vacuum," Jordan said. "Cutting the fixed route bus routes means the corresponding paratransit services would be eliminated." Jordan urged the council to maintain the county's $3.5 million Green Link allocation.

The ordinance presented at first reading directs that, if approved by voters, proceeds would fund specified transportation projects and authorizes the board of elections to conduct a referendum; the council referred the ordinance to the committee of the whole for detailed review of projects and cost estimates.