Shoppers in Dorchester County will pay an extra penny on the dollar starting next spring to build and repair schools.

Voters approved a 1% education capital improvements sales and use tax on Nov. 3, 35,676 to 23,297, or 60.5% to 39.5%, according to unofficial results from the South Carolina Election Commission.

Dorchester’s final unofficial count posted after 2 a.m. Nov. 4, according to the state’s results site. Election officials had to rescan more than 5,500 early voting ballots after a USB stick failed to upload results, WCIV-TV reported.

“Nothing was wrong with the ballots,” Kizzie Scott, executive director of the county’s elections board, told the station. Officials are scheduled to review provisional ballots Friday, Nov. 6.

The tax takes effect April 1, 2027, according to Dorchester School District Two, and can run up to 15 years under the County Council resolution that put it on the ballot. It will raise Dorchester’s sales tax rate from 7%, the state’s 6% plus a 1% transportation tax, to 8%, based on South Carolina Department of Revenue rate tables. Neighboring Berkeley County charges 9%.

Dorchester School District Two gets 85% of the money and Dorchester School District Four 15%. Each district must use 10% of its share to lower the property tax levy that repays its existing bonds and spend the rest on listed projects.

District Two’s list includes a new school or schools near Highway 61 and Delemar Highway and work at Summerville, Fort Dorchester and Ashley Ridge high schools. District Four plans to replace aging elementary schools in St. George and Ridgeville and expand Woodland High School, WCIV reported. The South Carolina Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office projects the tax will raise $688.2 million over 15 years, according to District Two.

The council’s resolution said the tax would let the county “capture revenue from visitors and shoppers who live outside Dorchester County.” District Two estimates a typical family will pay about $143 a year.

Some voters weighed that cost. “It’s important for our school districts to have what they need, but at the same time, we have to weigh whether or not how it impacts us as individuals and our taxes and how does that affect our bottom line and our purse strings,” voter Lee Gileno told WCIV.

The results remain unofficial until they are certified.