Website Launched to Educate Laurens County Residents on 1% Sales Tax before Voting on November 3rd

September 21, 2020

Laurens County citizens will have the opportunity to vote for a 1% sales tax in the November 3 general election. The sales tax, if adopted, would last for eight years or when $35 million dollars is raised, whichever is first.

The commission working on the Capital Project Sales Tax (CPST) for Laurens County has created a website to highlight the 16 selected projects and to answer frequently asked questions about the process and the tax.

The website is www.YesToInvestLC.com. The website also includes property tax calculator that allows residents to see how much their property tax would increase if the approved projects were funded by property taxes instead of the penny sales tax.  Click here to go directly to the calculator.

Some information previously reported on this website but worth mentioning again includes:

  • The Department of Revenue predicts that the CPST in Laurens County would raise approximately $51 million dollars. The commission intentionally reduced the budget to $35 million to ensure against cost overruns.
  • Laurens County residents spent $153 million dollars in other counties which led to $13 million dollars in funding for other counties’ CPST projects. Likewise, out of county people visiting or traveling through the county spend money here.
  • “40% of the sales tax revenue is expected to come from out-of-county people who are visiting or traveling through the county,” said Walter Hughes III, Commission chairman.
  • The remaining $19.6 million would be paid for by Laurens County residents. With a population of 67,493 residents as of last census, this results in each resident paying $38.89/year or $3.24/month for the CPST.

Check out the website and be an informed voter on November 3rd!