S 137 Session 112 (1997-1998)
S 0137 General Bill, By M.T. Rose
A BILL TO AMEND TITLE 6, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO
LOCAL GOVERNMENT, BY ADDING CHAPTER 14, SO AS TO ENACT THE LOCAL OPTION
GASOLINE TAX ACT.
01/14/97 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-136
01/14/97 Senate Referred to Committee on Finance SJ-136
A BILL
TO AMEND TITLE 6, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA,
1976, RELATING TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT, BY ADDING
CHAPTER 14, SO AS TO ENACT THE LOCAL OPTION
GASOLINE TAX ACT.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South
Carolina:
SECTION 1. Title 6 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"CHAPTER 14
Local Option Gasoline Tax
Section 6-14-10. This chapter may be cited as the Local Option
Gasoline Tax Act.
Section 6-14-20. Subject to the requirements of this chapter, the
governing body of a county or municipality may impose by
ordinance a tax of not more than five cents a gallon on retail sales of
gasoline within its jurisdiction for a specific purpose and for a
specific period of time to collect a limited amount of money.
Section 6-14-30. (A) The governing body of a county or
municipality may vote to impose the tax authorized by this chapter,
subject to a referendum, by enacting an ordinance. The ordinance
must specify:
(1) the purpose for which the proceeds of the tax is to be used,
which may include projects located within or without, or both within
and without, the boundaries of the county or municipality imposing
the tax and which may include:
(a) highways, roads, streets, and bridges;
(b) water, sewer, and water and sewer projects;
(c) retirement of existing general obligation debt of the
county or municipality issued for any combination of subitems (a)
and (b) of this item; and
(d) any combination of the projects described in subitems (a)
through (c) of this item;
(2) the maximum time, stated in calendar years or calendar
quarters, or a combination thereof, not to exceed seven years, for
which the tax may be imposed; and
(3) the maximum cost of the project or facilities funded from
proceeds of the tax and the maximum amount of net proceeds to be
raised by the tax.
(B) Upon receipt of the ordinance, the county election commission
or municipal election commission shall conduct a referendum on the
question of imposing the optional gasoline tax in the jurisdiction.
The referendum must be held on the Tuesday following the first
Monday in November. The commission shall cause the date and
purpose of the referendum to be published once a week for four
consecutive weeks immediately preceding the date of the referendum
in a newspaper of general circulation in the jurisdiction.
(C) A separate question must be included on the referendum ballot
for each purpose and the question must read substantially as follows:
`Must a cent(s) a gallon gasoline tax be imposed in
(county or municipality) for not more than (time)
to raise the amounts specified for the following purposes:
(1) $ for
Yes []
No []
(2) etc.?'
(D) All qualified electors desiring to vote in favor of imposing the
tax for a particular purpose shall vote `yes' and all qualified electors
opposed to levying the tax for a particular purpose shall vote `no'. If
a majority of the votes cast are in favor of imposing the tax for one
or more of the specified purposes, then the tax is imposed as provided
in this chapter; otherwise the tax is not imposed. A subsequent
referendum on this question must not be held more than once in
twelve months and any referendum must be held on the date specified
in subsection (B). The election commission shall conduct the
referendum under the election laws of this State, mutatis mutandis,
and shall certify the result no later than December thirty-first to the
appropriate governing body and to the Department of Revenue and
Taxation. Included in the certification must be the total of the project
costs receiving a favorable vote. Expenses of the referendum must
be paid by the jurisdiction conducting the referendum.
Section 6-14-40. (A) If the tax is approved in the referendum,
the tax is imposed on May first following the date of the referendum.
If the certification is not timely made to the Department of Revenue
and Taxation, the imposition is postponed for twelve months.
(B) The tax terminates on the earlier of:
(1) the final day of the maximum time specified for the
imposition; or
(2) the end of the calendar month during which the Department
of Revenue and Taxation determines that the tax has raised revenues
sufficient to provide the county or municipality net proceeds equal to
or greater than the amount specified as the amount to be raised by the
tax.
(C) When the local gasoline tax is imposed for more than one
purpose, the governing body of the jurisdiction authorizing the
referendum for the tax shall determine the priority for the expenditure
of the net proceeds of the tax for the purposes stated in the
referendum.
(D) Amounts collected in excess of the required proceeds must first
be applied, if necessary, to complete a project for which the tax was
imposed; otherwise, the excess amounts must be credited to the
general fund of the jurisdiction imposing the tax.
Section 6-14-50. The tax levied pursuant to this chapter must be
administered and collected by the Department of Revenue and
Taxation in the same manner that the sales and use tax is
administered and collected. The sales tax return shall contain a line
reporting gallons of gasoline sold for the purpose of calculating the
tax. Every establishment selling gasoline at retail in a jurisdiction
imposing the tax shall obtain a retail sales license.
Section 6-14-60. The revenues of the tax collected in each county
or municipality under this chapter must be remitted to the State
Treasurer and credited to a fund separate and distinct from the
general fund of the State. After deducting the amount of refunds
made and costs to the Department of Revenue and Taxation of
administering the tax, not to exceed one percent of the revenues, the
State Treasurer shall distribute the revenues quarterly to the county
or municipality in which the tax is imposed and these revenues must
be used only for the purpose stated in the imposition ordinance. The
State Treasurer may correct misallocation costs or refunds by
adjusting subsequent distributions, but these adjustments must be
made in the same fiscal year as the misallocation.
Section 6-14-70. The Department of Revenue and Taxation shall
furnish data to the State Treasurer and to the counties and
municipalities receiving revenues for the purpose of calculating
distributions and estimating revenues. Information about a specific
taxpayer is considered confidential and is governed by the provisions
of Section 12-54-240. A person violating this section is subject to the
penalties provided in Section 12-54-240.
Section 6-14-80. The Department of Revenue and Taxation may
promulgate regulations necessary to implement this chapter."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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