Sales tax goes up 1 cent May 1

Keith Gedamke / The Item Construction workers work on the hill surrounding the concession stand at Patriot Park about a month ago.

By JASON WERMERS
Item Staff Writer
jwermers@theitem.com

May 1 is the right time for a penny sales tax increase on goods and services in Sumter County because it will pay for major construction projects and create jobs in a down economy, advocates say.

May 1 is the wrong time for the tax increase because it will make those goods and services more expensive, leading some consumers to think twice before buying something in a down economy, others say.

Like it or not, you will pay that extra penny on every dollar that a good or service costs you beginning May 1.

That is because Sumter County voters narrowly approved the one-cent Capital Projects Sales Tax in November.

County officials have projected the increased tax will generate about $75 million during the next seven years for 16 construction projects, including $20 million for a new judicial center, $8 million to build a water treatment plant on U.S. 15 South and $6 million to build a diamond-shaped bypass where North Lafayette Drive and North Main Street meet.

"I think we should always keep in mind that during these difficult economic times, this is an exciting opportunity for our community to surge forward," County Administrator William T. Noonan said.

Hawkins & Kolb Construction Co. Inc. already has been doing work on the first project funded by the increase. That's possible because the county sold about $20 million in bond anticipation notes. Those are, in essence, loans borrowed against the bonds, which will be paid back when the bonds are sold, likely by early 2010, Noonan said.

The bonds themselves will be paid back by money raised from the sales tax increase. County council members were eager to get the projects started, which is why they sold the bond anticipation notes.

Christopher J. Hawkins, president of Hawkins & Kolb, said his firm hopes to finish the $5.3 million activities center at Patriot Park in time for the Dixie Youth Softball World Series, which takes place in late July. Mother Nature didn't cooperate by providing several rainy days last month.

The main pavilion's structural steel is in place and the concrete is poured, except for the bleachers.

"Overall, it's a super nice complex, and I don't think the citizens of Sumter understand how much revenue this is going to bring into Sumter County," Hawkins said. "Teams will come in from all over using our facility, eating in our restaurants, staying in our motels. This is going to be a feather in the hat for Sumter."

Hawkins added that while his company has other projects, Patriot Park is by far the biggest. He said the project has between 60 and 80 people working every day with 90 percent of them hired by local subcontractors.

Besides the pavilion, the project will add baseball and soccer fields. Grass has already been placed, but there is still fencing and landscaping, as well as additional parking, to be completed.

Last week, the county opened bids on on a renovation project at Mayesville Community Center. The sales tax increase is expected to pay for $2.5 million in new community centers and renovations and $3 million in new fire stations and renovations.

Billy Lane, owner of Pizza Lane at 460 Broad St., said the penny sales tax increase is well-justified, just badly timed.

"I think the reasons for having it are legitimate; there's no question about that," he said. "What bothers me is that in this economy, especially in this economy our taxes are going up."

He said that, besides state sales tax, the 13-year-old 1-cent Local Option Sales Tax and the looming Capital Projects Sales Tax, other taxes he is subject to as a restaurant, mean his customers pay 10 cents in taxes for every dollar they spend.

"The higher that goes," he said, "the less I sell."

Already as unemployment has risen in Sumter County, fewer people have been eating at restaurants, including Pizza Lane, he said.

"Business keeps going down and down, just like our lunch today," Lane said. "It was kind of slow today. Overall, our business is still good, but the profit is not there like it used to be."



Contact Staff Writer Jason Wermers at jwermers@theitem.com or (803) 774-1295.