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Andrew Moore

Don Fuller of the Oconee County Capital Projects Commission speaks to various city officials from across the county Tuesday night, trying to gauge their interest in a sales tax to fund capital projects.

WESTMINSTER — Officials from Westminster, Seneca, Walhalla and Salem gathered on Tuesday at Westminster’s newly renovated historic depot to discuss a possible 1 percent sales tax in Oconee County that would fund capital projects.

However, a straw poll taken shows only mild support for the measure. Most of those with reservations about the tax’s implementation voiced concerns over whether the capital projects selected would equally benefit all citizens of the county.

Such a tax was also considered by the county’s capital projects commission in 2006, but the ballot referendum was struck down overwhelmingly, said Don Fuller of the commission, citing that 2006’s other ballot items as contributing factors for the failure to pass the tax, including a property value reassessment.

Should the local option tax pass popular referendum in 2010, the estimated $50 million in generated revenue over seven years could go to capital projects such as roads, bridges, courthouses, civic buildings, libraries, jails and infrastructure such as water and sewer. None of the revenue could be allotted for operational expenses of the built facilities, however.

Fuller, with the help of Economic Development Director Jim Alexander, told the audience, which included Walhalla Chamber of Commerce President Glenn Buddin, Seneca Mayor Dan Alexander, Walhalla Mayor Randy Chastain and Westminster City Administrator David Smith, that the success of such a referendum would be predicated upon savvy marketing, which would begin in January. All but two precincts voted against the local option tax referendum in 2006 after the commission sifted through $153 million in requests that ranged from $3,000 projects to the $20 million variety.

“Last time the strategy was to solicit input from everyone and come up with a large list of projects,” Fuller said. “This time the commission has said we don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Fuller estimates the commission will take input from interests across the county, but take the projects and whittle them down to a list of eight to 10 before pricing and prioritizing the order of funding for those requests, and ultimately putting those into a referendum to be voted on in November 2010.

Two projects drew specific discussion on Tuesday, as plans for a new library and a possible Oconee County recreation center were often cited for both the problems of the tax they both illustrated, as well as the possible positives they could bring.

There was some concern regarding the library plan, which begins with the construction of a multimillion dollar facility in Seneca. That plan, coupled with a recreation center that may possibly be located in the Bountyland area, raised concerns as to whether the entire county would be served by the tax revenue, rather than the greater Seneca area.

Library Chairman John Adams reminded attendees, however, that the five-year library plan includes an expansion in Westminster, a new library in the southern portion of the county, an upgrade to the Walhalla library and the construction of another in Salem.

“This is not just a Seneca thing,” Adams said.

A straw poll at the end of the meeting showed only half of the officials thought the referendum was worthwhile.

Implementation and collection of a sales tax, passed by popular referendum in November 2010, would begin in May 2011, as revenues would be held into account by the South Carolina Department of Revenue.

andrew@dailyjm.com | (864) 973-6684