Advisory committee recommends 2026 Beaufort County sales-tax ‘penny’ with nine-year term, oversight panel

An advisory committee appointed by Beaufort County Council presented its recommended project list and implementation approach for a 2026 transportation sales-tax referendum, telling a public meeting that the group favors a nine-year measure and a citizen oversight panel to report monthly on project progress.

"We were to collect amount, projects, and duration — that was our scope," Lisa, a former mayor and member of the advisory committee, said at the meeting. She said the committee of 15 met nine times across the county, vetted more than 150 project proposals, and narrowed them to a recommended list intended to balance projects north and south of the Broad River.

The committee emphasized safety and congestion relief as top priorities and recommended projects including widenings, intersection safety improvements, resurfacing and a dirt-road paving program. Members cited safety-hot-spot data from local police and the sheriff’s office as part of the project selection process and said the proposed list “touches every county” with roughly 45 recommended projects.

Lisa said the committee considered different measure lengths and revenue bases and noted one substantive policy choice discussed at the council-level public-facilities meeting: whether to include unprepared-food sales in the tax base. "Unprepared foods is about a year’s worth of a penny," she said, adding the committee heard estimates that including those sales could add roughly $90,000,000 in annual collections; the committee’s recommendation to county council was to exclude unprepared foods.

On timeline and next steps, Lisa said the committee delivered its recommendation to county council and that council’s first reading was set for May 25, with additional readings (including a June 22 date mentioned in discussion) before any decision to place the referendum on the ballot. If the council advances the measure and voters approve it, Lisa said collections would begin in 2027.

County staff present confirmed a public-facing project map and an interactive GIS tool that lists recommended projects, assumptions, estimated durations and links to underlying studies. "Right now, the map that she showed is up there — you can click on it and it’ll show you where all the projects are," a staff member said. Staff also said responses to an RFQ for a public-education firm are under review and that a selection team will recommend a contractor to support outreach.

Speakers at the meeting reiterated the committee’s recommendation that a citizen oversight committee be established if the penny is approved. The oversight panel, the group said, should receive monthly staff reports, hold public meetings and allow public comment on progress and spending — an approach committee members said had worked for school-district projects in the past.

Committee and staff members also discussed allocation assumptions and cost contingencies. They said many projects remain in planning stages and that initial cost estimates include contingency and allowances for right-of-way and utility relocations; staff estimated contingency ranges in the 20–30% band and noted a statutory transportation obligation that typically requires roughly a 4% allowance for utilities in project cost estimates.

On design choices, staff said the committee recommended applying a complete-streets approach where feasible: recommendations call for pathways on at least one side of widened sections on routes such as SC-46 and US-17 (referred to in discussion as “170”), while other corridors with high traffic volumes (for example 278) were not expected to include a pathway component.

Committee members urged faster public education rather than waiting for later readings: "We can’t wait until August or the third reading to educate because there are people out there that don’t want you to be educated," Lisa said. Several speakers recommended municipalities consider supporting resolutions after council’s second reading to show municipal buy-in for projects within town boundaries.

The meeting closed after questions and local scheduling notes; the group identified a June meeting program and named Luanna Graves Sellers of the Lowcountry Gullah Foundation as a guest speaker about heirs’ property. The committee repeatedly encouraged residents to review the county’s online project map and the frequently asked questions posted alongside it.

The committee did not take a formal vote on placing a measure on the ballot; the next formal steps are county-council readings and any council vote to adopt a final project list and ordinance that would put the referendum before voters.