Half-cent sales tax vote stands

BY ARLIE PORTER
Of The Post and Courier Staff

     After hearing more than three hours of testimony and deliberating behind closed doors for nearly three more hours, the S.C. Election Commission late Thursday upheld Charleston County voters' narrow approval of a new half-cent sales tax.
     But the commission did so only by a default, voting 2-2 on voiding the sales tax referendum. Since the vote was a tie, the local election commission's decision to uphold the sales tax vote stands.
     Sales tax opponents said the decision spells serious legal problems for the sales tax when they appeal the results of the tax referendum to the state Supreme Court. In their challenge, they claim that the Nov. 5 sales tax ballot wording was slanted toward the sales tax.
     Supporters took heart in the outcome of the state commission's vote.
     But they also voiced concern. The sales tax is expected to raise $1.3 billion over the 25 years it is in effect, paying to build new roads and bridges, fund public transportation and purchase green space and parkland.
     As long as the sales tax remains in legal limbo, the future of the Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority remains in question, said CARTA director Howard Chapman.
     "Our concern is to get beyond the protest and go forward," he said. CARTA will run out of money to operate next year and is banking on a loan to carry it over until the sales tax goes into effect next May.
     With the vote and the outcome of a legal challenge before the state Supreme Court still unclear, it will be more difficult to get a loan, Chapman said.
     Opponents of the sales tax, including a state lawmaker and other elected officials, were encouraged by the commission's action.
     In challenging the sales tax vote, they claimed that the sales tax passed due to a deliberate effort by Charleston County to encourage a "yes" vote by the wording on the ballot and by producing sales tax fliers distributed at polls.
     The local election commission last month rejected the challenge and upheld the sales tax, which election commissioners said_passed by a margin of 685 votes out of more than 81,000 cast.
     The opponents appealed to the state commission, which listened to several hours of testimony Thursday. Among those who questioned the legality of the sales tax was election commission attorney Mikell Scarborough, who had raised concerns about the ballot wording well before the election.
     Scarborough and other county attorneys had predicted a legal challenge after council waffled over the ballot wording weeks before the election.
     Council ultimately approved a ballot that instructed voters to vote for the sales tax if they favored "the traffic congestion relief, safe roads and clean water sales tax." If they opposed the "traffic congestion relief, safe roads and clean water sales tax," they should vote no, the instructions said.
     "The fact that we got a tie _vote and it took them so long to do it means there are serious issues of law," said Trent Kernodle, _attorney for the sales tax opponents.
     The state commission also upheld the Charleston commission's decision to award an election victory to council incumbent Leon Stavrinakis, who ran in a four-way race for two city of Charleston seats on council.
     Stavrinakis finished second in the race, beating former Councilwoman Anne Alford for the second seat by 136 votes, the county commission ruled last month.
     Alford, who claimed votes were improperly counted, protested the decision to the state. The state commission voted 4-0 Thursday to uphold the local commission's decision. Alford could not be reached after the decision and it was unclear whether she would appeal to the Supreme Court.
     "I'm very pleased, obviously," Stavrinakis said.