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S. 793
STATUS INFORMATION
General Bill
Sponsors: Senator Rankin
Document Path: l:\council\bills\ggs\22360htc04.doc
Introduced in the Senate on January 13, 2004
Currently residing in the Senate
Summary: County assessment ratios, boats
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS
Date Body Action Description with journal page number
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12/16/2003 Senate Prefiled
12/16/2003 Senate Referred to Committee on Finance
1/13/2004 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-24
1/13/2004 Senate Referred to Committee on Finance SJ-24
5/4/2004 Senate Committee report: Favorable with amendment Finance SJ-6
5/5/2004 Scrivener's error corrected
View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
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COMMITTEE REPORT
May 4, 2004
S. 793
S. Printed 5/4/04--S. [SEC 5/5/04 12:13 PM]
Read the first time January 13, 2004.
To whom was referred a Bill (S. 793) to amend Section 12-43-360, Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, relating to the authority of the governing body of a county to reduce the assessment, etc., respectfully
That they have duly and carefully considered the same and recommend that the same do pass with amendment:
Amend the bill, as and if amended, by striking Section 12-43-360(B) as contained in SECTION 1, page 1, and inserting:
/ (B) The governing body of a county by ordinance may reduce the assessment ratio otherwise applicable in determining the assessed value of boats subject to property tax in the county to a ratio not less than four percent of the fair market value of the boat. The ordinance must apply uniformly to all boats subject to property tax in the county. Before such an ordinance may be enacted, the governing body of any school district located in whole or in part in the county, by resolution, must approve the amount of the proposed reduction in the assessment ratio. /
Amend further, as and if amended, by adding an appropriately numbered section to read:
/ SECTION _____. A. Article 5, Chapter 37, Title 12 of the 1976 Code, is amended by adding:
"Section 12-37-712. In addition to any other provisions of law subjecting boats and boat motors to property tax in this State:
(1) A boat, including its motor if the motor is separately taxed, used in interstate commerce having a tax situs in this State and at least one other state is subject to property tax in this State. The value of such a boat must be determined based on the fair market value of the boat multiplied by a fraction representing the number of days present in this State. The fraction is determined by dividing the number of days the boat was present in this State by three hundred and sixty-five days. A boat used in interstate commerce must be physically present in this State on thirty days in the aggregate in a property tax year to become subject to ad valorem taxation.
(2) A boat, including its motor if the motor is separately taxed, which is not present in this State on December thirty-first and is not used exclusively in interstate commerce, is subject to property tax in this State if it is present within this State for sixty consecutive days or on ninety days in the aggregate in a property tax year. Upon written request by a tax official, the owner must provide documentation or logs relating to the whereabouts of the boat in question. Failure to produce requested documents creates a rebuttable presumption that the boat in question is taxable within this State." /
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.
HUGH K. LEATHERMAN, SR. for Committee.
REVENUE IMPACT 1/
This bill is not expected to have any impact on state or local revenues. Counties are only expected to lower assessment ratios if they can encourage enough additional boats to locate in their counties to offset the lower assessment ratio that would apply to the boats already on the county's tax rolls.
Explanation
Under current law, the assessment ratio used for boats is 10.5%. This bill would give counties the option of lowering this assessment ratio to as low as 4.0%. This lower assessment ratio could result in additional boats registering and paying taxes in South Carolina, particularly in counties that border other states where the tax is lower. We estimate total property tax collections in South Carolina on boats to be approximately $25,000,000 for FY 2005. If every county in the State lowered the assessment ratio on boats to 4.0%, it would shift approximately $15,500,000 in property taxes currently collected on boats to the other classes of property taxes in the first year of implementation if no additional boats are registered in South Carolina. Since each county is expected to choose the option and assessment ratio that will maintain its revenues, this bill is not expected to impact local revenues.
Approved By:
William C. Gillespie
Board of Economic Advisors
1/ This statement meets the requirement of Section 2-7-71 for a state revenue impact, Section 2-7-76 for a local revenue impact, and Section 6-1-85(B) for an estimate of the shift in local property tax incidence.
TO AMEND SECTION 12-43-360, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE AUTHORITY OF THE GOVERNING BODY OF A COUNTY TO REDUCE THE ASSESSMENT RATIO OTHERWISE APPLICABLE TO GENERAL AVIATION AIRCRAFT SUBJECT TO PROPERTY TAX IN A COUNTY TO A RATIO NOT LESS THAN FOUR PERCENT OF FAIR MARKET VALUE, SO AS TO EXTEND SIMILAR PROVISIONS TO BOATS SUBJECT TO PROPERTY TAX IN A COUNTY.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Section 12-43-360 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 30 of 2003, is amended to read:
"Section 12-43-360. (A) The governing body of a county by ordinance may reduce the assessment ratio otherwise applicable in determining the assessed value of general aviation aircraft subject to property tax in the county to a ratio not less than four percent of the fair market value of the general aviation aircraft. The ordinance must apply uniformly to all general aviation aircraft subject to property tax in the county.
(B) The governing body of a county by ordinance may reduce the assessment ratio otherwise applicable in determining the assessed value of boats subject to property tax in the county to a ratio not less than four percent of the fair market value of the boat. The ordinance must apply uniformly to all boats subject to property tax in the county."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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