Letter to the editor: Clarendon penny tax will help improve quality of life

Ben Franklin said that two things in life are certain, death and taxes. Some of us think that the latter will hasten the former.

So why has the Clarendon County Council gone through the process to put a Capital Project Sales and Use Tax (penny sales tax) on the upcoming November ballot?

First, the tax proposal will truly give our citizens a chance to vote on these projects. Second, based on other counties that have the Penny Capital Project Sales and Use Tax, estimates are that from 40% to 60% of the taxes raised will come from citizens who live outside the county but make purchases here. About 40,000 vehicles travel daily through our county on I-95 and on highways 521 and 378. These travelers stop here and make purchases that will add to our funds.

A six-member committee was established and included citizens from across the county. A list of projects selected by the committee and approved by County Council include:

County-wide emergency operations center/911 call center, $8,100,000

Church Street parking (Manning), $4,540,000

Town Hall (Paxville), $350,000

Town Hall/Police department (Summerton), $2,000,000

Fire Station (Turbeville), $1,700,000

Centrally located recreation park/facilities with competition ball fields, $6,500,000

Library branch facility (Summerton), $2,600,000

I-95 wastewater improvements (Manning), $1,250,000

Recreation park(s) (Paxville), $1,500,000

Downtown beautification (Summerton), $1,000,000

Downtown beautification (Turbeville), $250,000

Recreation park(s) (St. Paul area), $1,500,000

Fire/rescue sub-station (Station 5) (Paxville area), $675,000

Clarendon County industrial park infrastructure, $840,000

Fire/rescue sub-station (Station 11) (Brewington area), $725,000

Fire/rescue sub-station (Station 15) (Liberty area), $725,000

Recreation park(s) (Turbeville), $1,500,000

Centrally located, county-wide fire training facility with burn building, $5,750,000

Several counties in our area have used the Capital Project funds to improve the quality of county services, including our neighbor Sumter. If you have shopped in Sumter, you have helped our neighbor improve the quality of life for its citizens.

If approved by the citizens, the Capital Project Sales Tax will begin on May 1, 2023, and will end on April 30, 2031. Please consider voting yes.

DWIGHT L. STEWART JR.

Clarendon County Council chairman