The Town of James Island has two tax credit programs. The first is the Local Option Sales Tax Credit The sales tax in Charleston County includes an additional one percent that is mostly used to reduce County and Municipal property taxes. Town staff forecasts that we will receive approximately $1.1 million from the Property Tax Credit Fund over the 2021-22 fiscal year. State law requires an equal credit against the Town’s 17.9 mill property tax.
I have asked Town Council to approve an additional $220,000 credit from the LOST County/Municipal Revenue distribution for this year. If Town Council approves, the Town’s property tax will continue to be zeroed out. When you look at your consolidated property tax bill from the Charleston County Auditor for your house, car, or boat, the Town’s millage will appear, but the amount next to it will be zero. As always, the Town will add nothing to your total property tax bill, and no property tax revenue will go to the Town.
The Town’s second tax credit program is our Cost Share Agreement with the James Island Public Service District (JIPSD.) The JIPSD is an independent special purpose district that provides fire protection and solid waste collection in the Town and unincorporated area of James Island. The Town contributes part of the cost of providing fire protection and solid waste collection in the Town and in exchange the District allows for a tax credit. As a result, everyone in the Town pays a reduced property tax on homes, cars and boats to the James Island Public Service District. I have asked Town Council to provide a $1.1 million cost share to the District for the 2020-21 fiscal year.
If Town Council approves the full LOST credit and the cost share, the amount Town property taxpayers must pay will be little changed from last year. If Town Council votes down the cost share, the result will be a 40% increase in the amount Town homeowners pay to the JIPSD compared to last year. Because this makes up nearly 50% of the total property tax bill, this would be a 16% increase in the total property tax bill for homeowners. There would also be increases in the tax that must be paid on all property such as cars and boats.
I strongly support the Cost Share Agreement. If the Town had its own fire and solid waste departments as do our neighbors in the City of Charleston and the City of Folly Beach, then the Town’s property tax millage would need to be much higher. We would need to charge approximately the same millage as we currently pay the James Island Public Service District—likely 60.3 mills for this coming year. However, we would be required by state law to use the Town’s distribution from the property tax credit fund to provide a credit. The Town could not possibly zero-out property taxes, but the total charges to Town property taxpayers would be the same as what we must pay with the cost share agreement we have now. So, the people of the Town can remain part of the James Island Public Service District, continue to receive the fire protection and solid waste collect services they have always provided us, while paying approximately the amount we would if Town had its own fire department and solid waste collection service.
It would be wasteful triplication to add a third fire service and sold waste collection service on James Island. The cost share with the James Island Public Service District is a cost-efficient method of providing our Town taxpayers with the benefits intended by the LOST program.
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