For decades, Dorchester County has paid for school buildings one way: by raising property taxes. Every new school, every roof and AC replacement, every renovation and upkeep. All on the backs of homeowners and business owners across Dorchester County.
Families and taxpayers have said clearly that this can't continue. Property taxes are too high, and life in Dorchester County is getting harder to afford. This community has worked hard to find a way to take care of our schools without leaning on property owners again.
That work is why a one-cent education capital sales tax is the last question on your Nov. 3 ballot.
This isn't a new idea. It's how Berkeley and Charleston counties have paid for school construction for years. Both counties have built and renovated schools with a dedicated penny, and both have used it to bring property taxes down.
We're proposing that Dorchester County make the same shift, away from property taxes and toward a source that everyone who shops here helps pay.
That includes the many people who live elsewhere but shop, dine and do business in Dorchester County. Officials estimate roughly 30 cents of every dollar would come from non-residents. Groceries are exempt. Even with a YES vote, Dorchester's sales tax stays lower than Charleston's and Berkeley's.
The alternatives were examined. Impact fees on new homes can help pay for future growth, but under state law they can't be used to renovate the schools we already have or relieve the crowding that already exists. More borrowing would land right back on property owners.
After weighing the options, all the government entities in Dorchester County agreed this was the right tool - the Dorchester County Legislative Delegation, the Dorchester School District Two and District Four boards, and Dorchester County Council. It's rare to see the legislative delegation, the two school boards and county government arrive at the same answer together.
What a YES vote does:
It lowers property taxes. By law, 10% of each district's share must pay down existing school bond debt, reducing the school debt portion of your property tax bill.
It funds a specific list: 90% goes only to projects written into the ballot question itself.
It stays here. The revenue is split 85% to District Two and 15% to District Four, and every penny stays in Dorchester County.
In District Two, that means new school capacity in the fast-growing area near Highway 61 and Delemar Highway; upgrades at Summerville, Fort Dorchester and Ashley Ridge high schools; work at Alston, DuBose and Gregg middle schools; and roofs, HVAC, buses, playgrounds and technology across the district. In District Four, it means new schools for Ridgeville and St. George and more classroom space at Woodland High, Clay Hill and Harleyville.
For the first time, our school districts would be able to plan for the long term. Until now, they've had to patch what they could with the roughly $22 million a year available for buildings, and go back to property owners for the rest. A dedicated, predictable source of funding lets them plan 15 years out: build schools where growth is coming, replace roofs before they fail, and retire debt early.
The needs in our schools don't go away if this fails. The roofs still leak, the buses still age out and enrollment keeps climbing. The only question is who pays: property owners alone, as we've always done, or everyone who spends money in Dorchester County, including visitors.
We think the answer is clear. Vote YES on the school question, the last one on your ballot.