Printed Page 850, Feb. 28
| Printed Page 870, Feb. 28
|
Printed Page 850, Feb. 28
| Printed Page 870, Feb. 28
| Senator DRUMMOND spoke on the amendment.
On motion of Senator DRUMMOND, debate was interrupted by recess.
At 1:30 P.M., the Senate stood in recess until 3:00 P.M.
The Senate reassembled at 3:14 P.M. and was called to order by the PRESIDENT.
The following were received and referred to the appropriate committees for consideration:
Document No. 1895
Promulgated by Department of Health and Environmental Control
Solid Waste Management: Land Application of Solid Waste
Received by Lt. Governor February 16, 1996
Referred to Senate Committee on Medical Affairs
120 day review expiration date June 15, 1996 (Subject to Sine Die revision)
Document No. 1915
Promulgated by Department of Health and Environmental Control
Amendment of R.61-98, State Underground Petroleum Environmental Response Bank (SUPERB) Site Rehabilitation and Fund Access Regulation
Received by Lt. Governor February 22, 1996
Referred to Senate Committee on Medical Affairs
120 day review expiration date June 21, 1996 (Subject to Sine Die revision)
H. 3901 -- Reps. Harrell, Fleming, Cobb-Hunter, Seithel, A. Young, Limbaugh, Wilkins, Wofford, Hallman, H. Brown, Cain, Cotty, Martin, D. Smith, Fulmer, L. Whipper, Shissias, Quinn, McCraw, Knotts, Stuart, Harrison, Sheheen, Huff, Klauber, Beatty, Limehouse, Whatley, Harwell, Hodges, J. Young, Govan, Herdklotz, Jennings, Richardson, Hutson,
The Senate resumed consideration of the Bill. The question being the adoption of Amendment No. 5 (BBM\10332HTC.95) proposed by Senators WILSON, THOMAS, COURSON and GIESE.
On motion of Senator WILSON, with unanimous consent, Amendment No. 5 was withdrawn.
Senator McCONNELL made the point that a quorum was not present. It was ascertained that a quorum was not present.
Senator McCONNELL moved that a call of the Senate be made. The following Senators answered the call:
Alexander Boan Bryan Cork Courson Courtney Drummond Elliott Fair Ford Giese Glover Gregory Hayes Holland Jackson Land Lander Leatherman Leventis Martin McConnell Mescher Moore O'Dell Passailaigue Peeler Rankin Reese Rose Russell Ryberg Setzler Short Smith, G. Smith, J.V. Waldrep Washington WilsonA quorum being present, the Senate resumed.
Senators SALEEBY, PATTERSON, MATTHEWS, RICHTER and McGILL recorded their presence subsequent to the Call of the Senate.
Senators PASSAILAIGUE, DRUMMOND, FORD, GIESE, GLOVER, GREGORY, HOLLAND, JACKSON, LAND, LEVENTIS, MATTHEWS, McCONNELL, McGILL, MESCHER, O'DELL, PATTERSON, RANKIN, REESE, ROSE and WASHINGTON proposed the following Amendment No. 15C (3901R033.ELP):
Amend the bill, as and if amended, by striking all after the enacting words and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
SECTION 1. A. The State Election Commission shall conduct a statewide referendum on November 5, 1996, on the question of raising the sales tax in order to provide property tax relief. The state election laws apply to this referendum, mutatis mutandis. The commission shall canvass the results of the referendum and certify the results to the director of the Department of Revenue and Taxation and the Code Commissioner. The referendum question must read substantially as follows:
"Do you favor raising the statewide sales, use, and casual excise tax rate from five to six percent and to set aside the proceeds of the additional one percent to provide for five specific tax relief programs which are: (1) providing for a maximum refundable individual income tax credit of seventy-five dollars per return with each state return filed; (2) granting owner-occupied residential property an exemption from all property taxes levied for operating purposes except those levied pursuant to referendum and those levied by special purpose or public service districts, county special tax districts, and for debt service; (3) increasing the depreciation allowance on business personal property; (4) phasing-out the income tax on state residents that have attained the age of sixty-five; and (5) decreasing the income tax on certain incorporated and unincorporated businesses?
Those voting in favor of the question shall deposit a ballot with a check or cross mark in the square after the word `Yes', and those voting against the question shall deposit a ballot with a check or cross mark in the square after the word `No'."
B. This SECTION takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
SECTION 2. Chapter 29, Title 4 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 4-29-72. For agreements executed after June 30, 1997, the provisions of Section 4-29-67 apply regardless of the amount of the project investment."
"(D) Appropriations from surplus may not be made before the first meeting of the General Assembly following the Comptroller General's closing of the books on the fiscal year in which the surplus occurred and may be appropriated only for nonrecurring purposes. The Comptroller General is authorized to issue warrants to draw such sums as may be necessary from the year-end surplus, and then the general fund of the State, to fully fund the Property Tax Relief Fund, as established pursuant to Article 11, Chapter 36 of Title 12."
SECTION 4. Section 11-11-330 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 145 of 1995, is amended to read:
"Section 11-11-330.(A) There is created a `State Property Tax Relief Fund' Funds credited to the `State Property Tax Relief Fund' must be used to provide property tax relief in the manner prescribed in Section 12-37-251. The General Assembly shall appropriate an amount sufficient to reimburse sums equal to the amount of taxes that were not collected for the local government by reason of the exemption provided in Section 12-37-251. The revenues in this fund must be distributed quarterly beginning in the month of October of each year by the Comptroller General to reimburse property taxing jurisdictions a sum equal to that not collected in the jurisdiction for property tax year 1997 because of the property tax exemption provided for in Section 12-37-251. If sufficient revenues are not available in this fund to pay the required reimbursements, the Comptroller General shall pay the difference from the year-end surplus revenues at the close of the preceding fiscal year and the general fund of the State, if necessary. County treasurers and municipal governing bodies, where appropriate, shall file quarterly reports of estimated revenue losses attributable to Section 12-37-251 with the Comptroller General in the manner and at the time the Comptroller General directs. After making any changes necessary to ensure accuracy, the Comptroller General shall make reimbursements based on these estimates. Any funds paid by the Comptroller General as the result of an erroneous or improper application must be returned to the Comptroller General for deposit in the State Property Tax Relief Fund. For purposes of future distributions, property tax year 1997 is deemed the base year. The method used to calculate the reimbursement amount for 1997 is the method which must be used in subsequent years. Reimbursements for subsequent tax years must be equal to or greater than the base year reimbursement from the fund.
(B)To determine the amount of the reimbursement to provide for the funding of schools, revenue losses attributable to Section 12-37-251 in
(C) The Comptroller General shall promulgate regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions herein."
SECTION 5. Article 5, Chapter 6, Title 12 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 12-6-525. On each individual tax return filed, there is allowed a refundable credit against the tax imposed pursuant to Section 12-6-510 in an amount equal to seventy-five dollars. This credit is reduced by five dollars for each one thousand dollars of taxable income in excess of one thousand dollars on the taxpayer's South Carolina individual income tax return."
SECTION 6. Article 9, Chapter 6, Title 12 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 12-6-1165. Beginning with the taxable year in which a resident individual attains the age of sixty-five, his taxable income is exempt from the tax imposed pursuant to Section 12-6-510 as follows:
(1) for taxable years beginning in 1997, twenty percent of taxable income is exempt;
(2) for taxable years beginning in 1998, forty percent of taxable income is exempt;
(3) for taxable years beginning in 1999, sixty percent of taxable income is exempt;
(4) for taxable years beginning in 2000, eighty percent of taxable income is exempt;
(5) for taxable years beginning after 2001, one hundred percent of taxable income is exempt. The taxable income of a married individual eligible for this exemption who files a joint federal income tax return with a spouse who is not eligible for the exemption must be allocated between the spouses and only that taxable income to the eligible spouse is eligible for the exemption. The department shall prescribe the method of allocation."
SECTION 7. A. Section 12-6-1140 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 76 of 1995, is further amended by adding at the end:
(1) shareholder of a subchapter `S' corporation;
(2) partner in a partnership; or
(3) member of a limited liability company.
No deduction is allowed under this item for a guaranteed payment to a partner for personal services rendered by the partner for the partnership."
B. This section applies to taxable years beginning after 1996.
SECTION 8. Section 12-36-940 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 12-36-940. Every retailer may add to the sales price:
(1) no amount on sales of ten cents or less;
(2) one cent on sales of eleven cents and over, but not in excess of twenty cents;
(3) two cents on sales of twenty-one cents and over, but not in excess of forty cents;
(4) three cents on sales of forty-one cents and over, but not in excess of sixty cents;
(5) four cents on sales of sixty-one cents and over, but not in excess of eighty cents;
(6) five cents on sales of eighty-one cents and over, but not in excess of one dollar;
(7) one cent additional for each twenty cents or major fraction thereon in excess of one dollar.
The inability, impracticability, refusal, or failure to add these amounts to the sales price and collect from the purchaser does not relieve the taxpayer from the tax levied by this article.
A retailer may add the amount of the tax to the sales price and the department shall prescribe tables providing the amount to be added to the sales price consistent with the total rate of the tax."
SECTION 9. Chapter 36, Title 12 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
Section 12-36-1110. An additional sales, use, and casual excise tax equal to one percent is imposed on amounts taxable pursuant to this chapter. Revenue of the tax imposed pursuant to this article must be credited to the Property Tax Relief Fund in the State Treasury, a fund separate and distinct from the general fund of the State.
B. Notwithstanding the date of general imposition of the tax imposed pursuant to Section 12-36-1110 of the 1976 Code, with respect to services that are regularly billed on a monthly basis, the tax is imposed beginning on the first day of the billing period beginning on or after July 1, 1997.
SECTION 11. A. In each county in which is imposed the local option sales tax, a county governing body, by majority vote, may cause the referendum provided in Section 4-10-35 of the 1976 Code to be held at the time of the general election in 1996 and at the time of the general election every two years thereafter. If the question is approved, the tax is rescinded in the county in the manner provided by law.
The authority of the governing body provided in this section is in addition to the authority granted for a referendum question initiated by petition.
B. This SECTION takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
SECTION 12. Section 12-37-251 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 145 of 1995, is amended to read:
"Section 12-37-251. (A) Property classified pursuant to Section 12-43-220(c) is exempt from property taxes levied for other than bonded indebtedness and payments pursuant to lease-purchase agreements for capital construction. The exemption applies against millage imposed for school operations and the amount of fair market value of the homestead that is exempt from such millage must be set by the Director of the Department of Revenue and Taxation based on the amount available in the State Property Tax Relief Fund. In addition to any other homestead exemption allowed by law, one hundred percent of the fair market value of every homestead qualifying for the assessment ratio provided pursuant to Section 12-43-220(c) is exempt from all ad valorem taxes except ad valorem taxes levied as follows:
(1) for debt service and for payments pursuant to lease-purchase agreements;
(2) by special purpose or public service districts;
(3) county special tax districts;
(B) Taxing entities must be reimbursed, in the manner provided in Section 12-37-270 in Section 11-11-330 for the revenue lost as a result of the homestead exemption provided in this section except that ninety percent of the reimbursement must be paid in the last quarter of the calendar year.
(C) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, property exempted from property taxation in the manner provided in this section is considered taxable property for purposes of bonded indebtedness pursuant to Sections 14 and 15 of Article X of the Constitution of this State, and for purposes of computing the `index of taxpaying ability' pursuant to Section 59-20-20(3).
(E) In the year of reassessment the millage rate for all real and personal property must not exceed the rollback millage, except that the rollback millage may be increased by the percentage increase in the consumer price index for the year immediately preceding the year of reassessment.
(D) The exemption allowed by this section is conditional on full funding of the Education Finance Act and on an appropriation by the General Assembly each year reimbursing school districts an amount equal to the Department of Revenue and Taxation's estimate of total school tax revenue loss resulting from the exemption in the next fiscal year."
B. This SECTION is effective for property tax years beginning after 1996.
SECTION 13. A. The penultimate paragraph of Section 12-37-930 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 32 of 1995, is further amended to read:
"In no event may the original cost be reduced more than eighty ninety percent, except this limit is ninety percent for custom molds and dies used in the conduct of manufacturing electronic interconnection component assembly devices for computers and computer peripherals. In the year of acquisition, depreciation is allowed as if the property were owned for the full year. The term `original cost' means gross capitalized cost, including property on which the taxpayer made the election allowed pursuant to Section 179 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as shown by the taxpayer's records for income tax purposes. For purposes of this paragraph, custom molds and dies used in the conduct of manufacturing electronic interconnection component assembly devices for computers and
B. This SECTION takes effect January 1, 1997.
SECTION 14. Upon approval by the Governor, this PART takes effect July 1, 1997, or as otherwise provided, but only upon the certification of the State Election Commission to the Code Commissioner and the Department of Revenue and Taxation of a majority "yes" vote in the referendum provided by SECTION 1 of this PART.
SECTION 1. The State Election Commission shall conduct a statewide referendum on November 5, 1996, on the question of limiting the taxing power of local governments and placing a cap on the millage rate. The state election laws apply to this referendum, mutatis mutandis. The commission shall canvass the results of the referendum and certify the results to the director of the Department of Revenue and Taxation and the Code Commissioner. The referendum question must read substantially as follows:
"Do you favor prohibiting municipalities, counties, or special purpose or public service districts from imposing any taxes or fees except those enacted before December 31, 1995, unless expressly authorized by the General Assembly and limiting the power of those local government entities to increase the millage rate beyond the consumer price index unless there is a declared emergency, to pay for a judicially-mandated spending, or to offset a prior year's deficit, unless two-thirds of the local governing body approve the millage rate increase?
Those voting in favor of the question shall deposit a ballot with a check or cross mark in the square after the word `Yes', and those voting against the question shall deposit a ballot with a check or cross mark in the square after the word `No'."
SECTION 2. Article 1, Chapter 9, Title 4 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 4-9-142. (A) The governing body of a county may not increase the millage rate and fee rates imposed for any purpose, excluding utilities, and except as provided in this section and Section 6-1-85, above the rates imposed for such purposes for the prior tax year. However, the millage rate and fee rates may be increased by the percentage increase in the consumer price index based upon the southeastern average. Notwithstanding the limitation upon millage rate and fee rate increases
(1) in response to a natural or environmental emergency as declared by the Governor. However, upon revocation of the declared emergency or as soon as conditions or operations change to the extent the emergency no longer exists, millage rate and fee rates must return to the rates immediately preceding the emergency;
(2) to offset a prior year's deficit, as required by Section 7, Article X of the South Carolina Constitution, or to offset a deficit in providing a service or function which is funded through the imposition of fees by increasing such fees in an amount necessary to cover that deficit; or
(3) to raise the revenue necessary to comply with judicial mandates requiring the use of county funds, personnel, facilities, or equipment.
(B) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the millage rate and fee rates also may be increased upon a two-thirds vote of the governing body. Any new sources of revenues for any purposes must be approved by a two-thirds vote of the governing body of the county. However, if the governing body has fewer than six members, a three-fifths vote is required.
(C) The restrictions contained in this section do not affect millage which is levied to pay bonded indebtedness or payments for real property purchased using a lease-purchase agreement or used to maintain a reserve account. Nothing in this section prohibits the use of energy-saving performance contracts as provided in Section 48-52-670.
(D) For the property tax year of implementation of the values resulting from a countywide reassessment and equalization program, the millage rate must not exceed the rollback millage, as defined in subsection (E), except that the rollback millage may be increased by the percentage increase in the consumer price index, based on the southeastern average, for the year immediately preceding the year of reassessment values implementation. The millage rate and fee rates may be further increased for the property tax year of implementation of reassessed values upon a two-thirds vote of the governing body. However, if the governing body has fewer than six members, a three-fifths vote is required.
(E) The rollback millage rate is computed by dividing the budget year property tax assessment base by the current year's property tax revenues.
(F) Contracts entered into under Chapter 12 of Title 4 are not subject to the provisions of this section."
SECTION 3. Article 1, Chapter 21, Title 5 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
Printed Page 850, Feb. 28
| Printed Page 870, Feb. 28
| This web page was last updated on Monday, June 29, 2009 at 2:00 P.M.