Beaufort County: green-space penny sales tax will end once $100M reached; council approves multiple land purchases

Beaufort County Administrator Michael Moore told the County Council on Jan. 28 that county legal review and the South Carolina Department of Revenue have agreed the green-space penny sales tax should stop because it has reached the $100,000,000 cap. Moore said DOR will terminate collection at the earliest feasible date, Feb. 28, 2025, to allow necessary system updates and taxpayer notifications.

"February 28 is the date. It will stop," Moore said, adding that the county received a follow-up email from DOR confirming the termination timing and thanked state Senator Tom Davis for assisting in the DOR communications.

Why it matters: The green-space penny tax funds land acquisition and conservation programs. With collection ending, council members discussed several immediate uses of the remaining green-space funds and approved multiple land purchases and contributions meant to preserve open space, protect water quality and support affordable housing.

Key land actions approved during the meeting:

- Seaside Road conservation easement (Seaside Road, St. Helena Island) — council approved a conservation easement to protect 9.3 acres of pecan grove in a marsh-migration corridor; Kate Shaffer of the Open Land Trust said the county will pay $374,000 from rural-and-critical/green-space funds to remove development density and preserve agricultural uses.

- Davis Road fee-simple purchase (Bluffton) — council approved purchase of a 40-acre property for $858,000 to create a conservation link to Okeetee Regional Park, protect headwaters and support regional water-quality goals.

- Jonesville Road Track (Hilton Head Island) — council approved a resolution to provide up to the appraised value (physical impact $2,187,000 from the green-space program fund) to the Town of Hilton Head Island to procure the parcel and included amendment language requiring any future grant reimbursements to return to the green-space program.

- All Joy Boat Landing improvement — council accepted a $1,200,000 state appropriation for boat-landing improvements and approved the resolution accepting the funds.

Context and safeguards: Kate Shaffer, standing in for the Open Land Trust, emphasized the program’s due diligence: appraisals, title research, surveys and phase-1 environmental analyses had been completed prior to the rural-and-critical board’s unanimous recommendation. She said conservation easement valuations reflect the delta between unencumbered and encumbered property values and that the county’s packet included the appraisal and associated documentation.

Council votes: Most land purchases and green-space resolutions were approved by show of hands and recorded as unanimous in the meeting; the record shows recusal on unrelated items where noted in committee history.

What’s next: With DOR confirming the termination timeline, staff and council will coordinate closing and transfer processes for the approved acquisitions and follow the green-space program’s rules for any grant reimbursements.