H 3323 Session 111 (1995-1996)
H 3323 General Bill, By L.M. Martin, Askins, J.M. Baxley, D.W. Beatty, H. Brown,
T. Brown, Canty, Cooper, L.L. Elliott, Fleming, R.C. Fulmer, Govan, Harrison,
Harvin, J.H. Hodges, T.E. Huff, H.G. Hutson, Jennings, Keegan, Kelley,
M.H. Kinon, J.G. McAbee, McKay, Quinn, Rhoad, Richardson, Riser, T.F. Rogers,
Sandifer, Sharpe, D. Smith, P.H. Thomas, Townsend, J.W. Tucker, Wilkins,
Witherspoon, S.S. Wofford and W.J. Young
A Bill to amend Title 4, Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, by adding
Chapter 37 so as to authorize counties to establish optional methods for the
financing of transportation facilities including the acquisition,
construction, equipment, and operation of highways, roads, streets, and
bridges, either alone or in partnership with the South Carolina Department of
Transportation.
01/19/95 House Introduced and read first time HJ-6
01/19/95 House Referred to Committee on Education and Public
Works HJ-6
A BILL
TO AMEND TITLE 4, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH
CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING CHAPTER 37 SO AS TO
AUTHORIZE COUNTIES TO ESTABLISH OPTIONAL
METHODS FOR THE FINANCING OF TRANSPORTATION
FACILITIES INCLUDING THE ACQUISITION,
CONSTRUCTION, EQUIPMENT, AND OPERATION OF
HIGHWAYS, ROADS, STREETS, AND BRIDGES, EITHER
ALONE OR IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE SOUTH CAROLINA
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South
Carolina:
SECTION 1. In furtherance of the powers granted to the
counties of this State pursuant to the provisions of Section 4-9-30,
and Section 6-21-10 et seq., of the 1976 Code, each of the counties
of this State is authorized, following the public hearing and
referendum required in this act to establish transportation authorities
to finance the cost of acquiring, constructing, equipping and
operating highways, roads, streets, and bridges, either alone or in
partnership with the South Carolina Department of Transportation.
SECTION 2. Title 4 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"CHAPTER 37
Optional Methods for Financing Transportation
Facilities
Section 4-37-10. (A) Subject to requirements of this chapter and
the referendum described in Section 4-37-30, the governing body of
a county may by ordinance establish a transportation authority with
all of the rights and powers described in Section 4-37-20. If a
county chooses to finance the cost of highways, roads, streets, and
bridges alone, the members of the authority board must be
appointed by the county governing body in the manner it
determines.
(B) If a county chooses to enter into a partnership with the
South Carolina Department of Transportation, the South Carolina
Highway Commission must have designated appointees on the
authority board as provided in an intergovernmental agreement to
be entered into by the partners.
Section 4-37-20. The board of the authority has all the rights and
powers of a public body, politic and corporate of this State
including, without limitation, all the rights and powers necessary or
convenient to manage the business and affairs of the authority and
to take action as it may consider advisable, necessary, or convenient
in carrying out its powers including, but not limited to, the
following rights and powers:
(1) to have perpetual succession;
(2) to sue and be sued;
(3) to adopt, use, and alter a seal;
(4) to make and amend bylaws for regulation of its affairs
consistent with the provisions of this chapter;
(5) to acquire, purchase, hold, use, improve, lease, mortgage,
pledge, sell, transfer, and dispose of any property, real, personal, or
mixed, or any interest in any property, or revenues of the authority
as security for notes, bonds, evidences of indebtedness, or other
obligations of the authority;
(6) to borrow money, make and issue notes, bonds, and other
evidences of indebtedness; to secure the payment of the obligations
or any part by mortgage, lien, pledge, or deed of trust, on any of its
property, contracts, franchises, or revenues;
(7) to make contracts, including service contracts with a person,
corporation, or partnership including, without limitation, the South
Carolina Department of Transportation, to provide the facilities and
services provided herein;
(8) to exercise the powers of eminent domain; and
(9) execute all instruments necessary or convenient for the
carrying out of business.
Section 4-37-30. Counties establishing an authority are
empowered to impose one or both of the following sources of
revenue:
(A) Subject to the requirements of this section, the governing
body of a county may by ordinance impose a one percent sales and
use tax within its jurisdiction for a specific purpose and for a
specific period of time to collect a limited amount of money.
(1) The governing body of a county may vote to impose the
tax authorized by this section, subject to a referendum, by enacting
an ordinance. The ordinance must specify:
(a) the purpose for which the proceeds of the tax is to be
used, which may include projects located within or without, or both
within and without, the boundaries of the county imposing the tax
and which may include:
(i) highways, roads, streets, and bridges;
(ii) jointly operated projects of the county and the South
Carolina Department of Transportation;
(b) the maximum time, stated in calendar years or calendar
quarters, or a combination of them, not to exceed twenty-five years,
for which the tax may be imposed; and
(c) the maximum cost of the project or facilities to be
funded in whole or in part from proceeds of the tax and the
maximum amount of net proceeds to be raised by the tax.
(2) Upon receipt of the ordinance, the county election
commission shall conduct a referendum on the question of imposing
the optional special sales and use tax in the jurisdiction. The
referendum must be held on the first Tuesday occurring sixty days
after the election commission receives the ordinance. If that
Tuesday is a legal holiday then the referendum must be held on the
next succeeding Tuesday that is not a holiday. The commission
shall publish the date and purpose of the referendum once a week
for four consecutive weeks immediately preceding the date of the
referendum, in a newspaper of general circulation in the
jurisdiction. A public hearing must be conducted at least fourteen
days prior to the referendum, after publication of a notice setting
forth the date, time, and location of the public hearing. The notice
must be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the
county at least fourteen days prior to the date fixed for the public
hearing.
(3) A separate question must be included on the referendum
ballot for each purpose and the question must read substantially as
follows:
`Must a special one percent sales and use tax be imposed in
(county) for not more than (time) to
raise the amounts specified for the following purposes:
(1) $_________________ for _________________
Yes _______
No _______
(2) etc.'
In addition, the referendum shall contain a question on the
authorization of the bonds as general obligation bonds under the
exemption provided in Section 14(6), Article X of the Constitution
of South Carolina, 1895, so that revenues derived from the
imposition of the optional sales and use tax may be pledged to the
repayment of the bonds.
(4) All qualified electors desiring to vote in favor of
imposing the tax for a particular purpose shall vote `yes' and all
qualified electors opposed to levying the tax for a particular purpose
shall vote `no'. If a majority of the votes cast are in favor of
imposing the tax for one or more of the specified purposes, then the
tax is imposed as provided in this section; otherwise, the tax is not
imposed. A subsequent referendum on this question must not be
held more than once in twelve months. The election commission
shall conduct the referendum under the election laws of this State,
mutatis mutandis, and shall certify the result no later than December
thirty-first to the appropriate governing body and to the Department
of Revenue and Taxation. Included in the certification must be the
total of the project costs receiving a favorable vote. Expenses of
the referendum must be paid by the jurisdiction conducting the
referendum. If the tax is approved in the referendum, the tax is
imposed effective the first day of the month occurring one hundred
eighty days after the date of the referendum. If the certification is
not timely made to the Department of Revenue and Taxation, the
imposition is postponed for twelve months.
(5) The tax terminates on the earlier of:
(a) the final day of the maximum time specified for the
imposition; or
(b) the end of the calendar month during which the
Department of Revenue and Taxation determines that the tax has
raised revenues sufficient to provide the county net proceeds equal
to or greater than the amount specified as the amount to be raised
by the tax.
(6) When the optional sales and use tax is imposed for more
than one purpose, the governing body of the jurisdiction authorizing
the referendum for the tax shall determine the priority for the
expenditure of the net proceeds of the tax for the purposes stated in
the referendum.
(7) Amounts collected in excess of the required proceeds
must first be applied, if necessary, to complete a project for which
the tax was imposed; otherwise, the excess amounts must be
credited to the general fund of the jurisdiction imposing the tax for
infrastructure use only.
(8) The tax levied pursuant to this section must be
administered and collected by the Department of Revenue and
Taxation in the same manner that other sales and use taxes are
collected. The department may prescribe the amounts which may
be added to the sales price because of the tax.
(9) The tax authorized by this section is in addition to all
other local sales and use taxes and applies to the gross proceeds of
sales in the applicable jurisdiction which are subject to the tax
imposed by Chapter 36 of Title 12 and the enforcement provisions
of Chapter 54 of Title 12. The gross proceeds of the sale of items
subject to a maximum tax in Chapter 36 of Title 12 are exempt
from the tax imposed by this section. The gross proceeds of the
sale of food lawfully purchased with United States Department of
Agriculture food stamps are exempt from the tax imposed by this
section. The tax imposed by this section also applies to tangible
personal property subject to the use tax in Article 13, Chapter 36 of
Title 12.
(10) Taxpayers required to remit taxes under Article 13,
Chapter 36 of Title 12 shall identify the county in which the
tangible personal property purchased at retail is stored, used, or
consumed in this State.
(11) Utilities are required to report sales in the county in
which consumption of the tangible personal property occurs.
(12) A taxpayer subject to the tax imposed by Section
12-36-920, who owns or manages rental units in more than one
county shall separately report in his sales tax return the total gross
proceeds from business done in each county.
(13) The gross proceeds of sales of tangible personal property
delivered after the imposition date of the tax levied under this
section in a county, either under the terms of a construction contract
executed before the imposition date, or a written bid submitted
before the imposition date, culminating in a construction contract
entered into before or after the imposition date, are exempt from the
special local sales and use tax provided in this section if a verified
copy of the contract is filed with the Department of Revenue and
Taxation within six months after the imposition of the special local
sales and use tax.
(14) Notwithstanding the imposition date of the special local
sales and use tax authorized pursuant to this section, with respect to
services that are regularly billed on a monthly basis, the special
local sales and use tax is imposed beginning on the first day of the
billing period beginning on or after the imposition date.
(15) The revenues of the tax collected in each county under
this section must be remitted to the State Treasurer and credited to a
fund separate and distinct from the general fund of the State. After
deducting the amount of refunds made and costs to the Department
of Revenue and Taxation of administering the tax, not to exceed
one percent of the revenues, the State Treasurer shall distribute the
revenues quarterly to the county in which the tax is imposed and
these revenues must be used only for the purpose stated in the
imposition ordinance. The State Treasurer may correct
misallocation costs or refunds by adjusting subsequent distributions,
but these adjustments must be made in the same fiscal year as the
misallocation.
(16) The Department of Revenue and Taxation shall furnish
data to the State Treasurer and to the counties receiving revenues
for the purpose of calculating distributions and estimating revenues.
The information which must be supplied to counties upon request
includes, but is not limited to, gross receipts, net taxable sales, and
tax liability by taxpayers. Information about a specific taxpayer is
considered confidential and is governed by the provisions of Section
12-54-240. A person violating this section is subject to the
penalties provided in Section 12-54-240.
(17) The Department of Revenue and Taxation may
promulgate regulations necessary to implement this section.
(B)(1) This item is intended to provide an additional and
alternative method for the provision of and financing for highways,
roads, streets, and bridges, either alone or jointly with the
Department of Transportation to the end that these transportation
facilities may be undertaken in such manner as may best be
calculated to expedite relief of hazardous and congested traffic
conditions on the highways in the State, including the authorization
for turnpike projects undertaken by the Department of
Transportation in Article 9 of Chapter 5 of Title 57.
(2) If the authority enters into a partnership with the
Department of Transportation relating to such turnpike facilities, the
authority may designate, establish, plan, improve, construct,
maintain, operate, and regulate designated highways, roads, streets,
and bridges as `turnpike facilities' as a part of the state highway
system or any federal aid system whenever the authority determines
the traffic conditions, present or future, justifies these facilities.
Under such partnership arrangement, the authority may utilize funds
available for the maintenance of the state highway system, for the
maintenance of any turnpike facility financed pursuant to this
chapter. If the authority determines it is feasible to make all or part
of a construction project a turnpike facility, it may engage in the
preliminary estimates and studies incident to the determination of
the feasibility or practicability of constructing any toll road as it
from time to time considers necessary and the cost of the
preliminary estimates and studies may be paid from the general
highway fund and must be reimbursed from funds provided under
this chapter only if the studies and estimates lead to the construction
of a toll road.
(3) Under the partnership arrangement, the authority may
acquire such lands and property, including rights of access as may
be needed for turnpike facilities, by gift, devise, purchase, or
condemnation by easement or in fee simple as authorized by law on
or after the effective date of this chapter for acquiring property or
property rights in connection with other state highways.
(4) In designating, establishing, planning, abandoning,
improving, constructing, maintaining, and regulating turnpike
facilities, the authority may exercise such authorizations as are
granted generally to the Department of Transportation by the
statutory law applicable to the state highway system, except as they
may be inconsistent with the provisions included in this chapter.
(5) Whenever it becomes necessary that monies be raised for
the transportation facilities described in this chapter, the authority
may issue toll revenue bonds to provide all or a portion of the cost
of these facilities after adopting its resolution setting forth the
following:
(a) the toll facility proposed to be constructed;
(b) the amount required for feasibility studies, planning,
design, right-of-way acquisition, and construction of the toll facility;
(c) a tentative time schedule setting forth the period of
time for which the toll shall be imposed;
(d) a debt service table showing the estimated annual
principal and interest requirements for the proposed toll revenue
bonds;
(e) any feasibility study obtained by the authority relating
to the proposed toll facility;
(f) any covenants to be made in the bond resolution
respecting competition between the proposed toll facility and
possible future highways whose construction would have an adverse
effect upon the toll revenues which would otherwise be derived by
the proposed toll facility.
(6) In addition to the powers listed above, the authority may
in connection with such toll facilities:
(a) fix and revise from time to time and charge and collect
tolls for transit over each turnpike facility constructed by it;
(b) combine, for the purpose of financing the facilities any
two or more turnpike facilities;
(c) control access to turnpike facilities;
(d) to the extent permitted by a bond resolution, expend
turnpike facility revenues in advertising the facilities and services of
the turnpike facility or facilities to the traveling public;
(e) receive and accept from any federal agency grants for
or in the aid of the construction of any turnpike facility;
(f) do all acts and things necessary or convenient to carry
out the powers expressly granted in this chapter;
(g) enter into contracts with the Department of
Transportation for sharing the cost of building and the revenues
derived from the facilities authorized in this chapter and for the
operation and maintenance of the facilities.
(C) It is intended that this chapter is an additional and
alternative method of financing highway and bridge projects to
those already provided under the provisions of the State Highway
Bond Act (Section 57-11-210), the State Turnpike Bond Act
(Section 57-5-1310 et seq.), the Revenue Bond Act for Utilities
(Section 6-21-10 et seq.), and Section 4-9-30(5)."
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the
Governor.
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