Charleston County voters on Nov. 3 approved extending the county’s half-cent transportation sales tax, according to unofficial results from the South Carolina Election Commission.
The main question, which allows the tax for up to 25 years or until it raises $4.25 billion, passed 108,190 to 61,102, or 63.9% to 36.1%, in unofficial results from the South Carolina Election Commission. A second question letting the county issue up to $300 million in general obligation bonds, repaid from the tax, passed by almost the same margin, 108,002 to 60,841.
The program continues the half-cent tax voters first approved in 2004. It sets aside about $2.7 billion for roads, more than $850 million for public transit and nearly $700 million for the Greenbelt Program, which buys land and conservation easements, WCSC-TV reported.
The vote reverses the result of 2024, when voters rejected a half-cent plan whose priority project was extending the Mark Clark Expressway, Interstate 526, onto Johns and James islands, WCSC reported at the time. This year’s plan left that project out, the City Paper noted.
“Yesterday, Charleston County voters reaffirmed their commitment to safer roads, less congestion, responsible growth and protecting the quality of life that makes our community special,” County Council Chairman Joe Boykin said in a statement reported by the Charleston City Paper. Boykin lost his own council seat the same night.
Councilman Larry Kobrovsky, who opposed the 2024 plan, told the City Paper the new tax is “not going to magically solve all of our congestion, but it is the responsible thing to do.”
Cities will share in the money. The tax will provide $22 million to the city of Charleston over its life for bike and pedestrian projects, the city said Nov. 5.
North Charleston Mayor Reggie Burgess rode a CARTA bus the morning after the vote and pointed to the planned Lowcountry Rapid Transit line on Rivers Avenue.
“It’s going to be in the middle of Rivers Avenue and by 2029 we should cut the ribbon and start this mass transit,” Burgess told WCSC.
The results remain unofficial until they are certified.
