York County Rec Tax Explainer

It's that time of year when York County, SC, holds public hearings and readings regarding the county budget. The hot button item this season is the abolishment of the York County Recreation Tax District (see new business item 4 from May 5). Numerous concerned citizens spoke up about this topic during the Budget Public Hearing on May 13, including people who work in York County's various municipalities, a former council member, some municipal representatives, and myself. That meeting was scheduled for 30 minutes but went on for over an hour, with the longest speech being about five minutes. I lost count of how many people actually spoke on the topic.

At first glance, the elimination of a tax seems like a positive. That is, until you read further and see that this tax is being replaced with another one and an apparently convoluted and inequitable stipend mechanism. In the video below I explain (using my own words and the help of my terrible PowerPoint animation skills) the current system, the proposed system, and the biggest questions I feel the county has left unanswered at this time.

I am hoping that people in York County who watch this will start asking more questions of their own. You can figure out who your representative is on the county council page of the York County Gov website and by referencing the district map on the side menu of that same page (or here is a direct link).