South Carolina General Assembly
117th Session, 2007-2008

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H. 3648

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Rep. Skelton
Document Path: l:\council\bills\bbm\9767htc07.doc

Introduced in the House on March 6, 2007
Currently residing in the House Committee on Ways and Means

Summary: Motor fuels user fee

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
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    3/6/2007  House   Introduced and read first time HJ-43
    3/6/2007  House   Referred to Committee on Ways and Means HJ-44

View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

3/6/2007

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A BILL

TO AMEND CHAPTER 10, TITLE 4, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING ARTICLE 9 SO AS TO ALLOW THE GOVERNING BODY OF A COUNTY BY ORDINANCE TO IMPOSE A LOCAL MOTOR FUELS USER FEE NOT TO EXCEED ONE CENT A GALLON, TO PROVIDE FOR THE IMPOSITION, REPORTING, PAYMENT, COLLECTION AND ENFORCEMENT OF THIS USER FEE, TO ALLOCATE THE REVENUE OF THIS USER FEE AMONG THE COUNTY AND MUNICIPALITIES IN THE COUNTY USING A POPULATION FORMULA AND PROVIDE FOR THE USES OF THIS REVENUE; TO AMEND SECTION 12-6-545, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE SPECIAL STATE INCOME TAX RATE ON ACTIVE TRADE OR BUSINESS INCOME OF A PASS-THROUGH ENTITY, SO AS TO PHASE IN AN ADDITIONAL DECREASE IN THIS SPECIAL RATE TO FOUR PERCENT; TO AMEND SECTIONS 12-28-310, AS AMENDED, AND 56-11-410, RELATING RESPECTIVELY TO THE MOTOR FUELS USER FEE AND THE ROAD TAX ON MOTOR CARRIERS, SO AS TO INCREASE THIS FEE AND TAX FROM SIXTEEN CENTS A GALLON TO TWENTY-ONE CENTS A GALLON, TO ADJUST PROSPECTIVELY THE RATE OF THIS FEE AND TAX BASED ON INCREASES IN THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX, TO PROVIDE THAT THE ADDITIONAL REVENUE OF THE FIVE CENT INCREASE MUST BE USED FOR ROAD MAINTENANCE, AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE ALLOCATION OF REVENUES ATTRIBUTABLE TO FUTURE ADJUSTMENTS.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION    1.    Chapter 10, Title 4 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Article 9

Local Gasoline and Other Motor Fuels User Fee

Section 4-10-910.    The governing body of a county may by ordinance impose a user fee not to exceed one cent a gallon for each gallon of gasoline and other motor fuels sold at retail within the county.

Section 4-10-920.    When the governing body of a county imposes the user fee authorized by this article, it shall forward a certified copy of the ordinance to the Department of Revenue. The ordinance must specify the user-fee rate and the date of imposition which must be the first day of a month. If the imposition is of limited duration, the ordinance also must specify the date the user fee terminates, which must be on the last day of a month.

Section 4-10-930.    (A)    The user fee is imposed as provided in the ordinance if the certified copy of the ordinance is received by the Department of Revenue more than ninety days before the imposition date.

(B)    The governing body of the county by ordinance may terminate the user fee imposed pursuant to this article. The termination date specified in the ordinance must be the last day of a month. A certified copy of the termination ordinance must be forwarded to the Department of Revenue. The user fee terminates on the date specified in the ordinance if the certified copy of the ordinance is received by the Department of Revenue more than ninety days before the termination date.

Section 4-10-940.    The user fee imposed by this article applies at the rate provided in the ordinance on each gallon of gasoline and other motor fuels sold at retail in a county subject to the user fee imposed pursuant to Section 12-28-310. The user fee must be prorated for a quantity less than one gallon. The user fee imposed by this article must be administered, reported, paid, collected, and enforced in the manner provided in Chapter 36 of Title 12 for sales and use taxes, mutatis mutandis. The Department of Revenue shall revise sales tax returns to conform to the requirements of this article.

Section 4-10-950.    The revenue from the local gasoline user fee must be credited to a separate holding fund in the State Treasury established to receive the revenues of the county imposing the user fee. There is established in the treasury of a county and each municipality in the county in which this user fee is imposed a county or municipal gasoline user-fee fund separate from the county and municipal general fund and all other funds. Earnings on this gasoline user-fee fund must be credited to it. After deducting the amount of any refunds and costs to the Department of Revenue of administering this user fee, not to exceed one percent of the revenues, the State Treasurer shall distribute the revenues of the holding fund monthly to the county user-fee fund and municipal gasoline user-fee funds in the county. The distribution to the county gasoline user-fee fund must be made in the proportion that the population of the nonincorporated area of the county is the total population of the county. The distribution to the municipal gasoline user-fee funds must be made in the proportion that the population of the municipality in the county is of the total population of the county. The gasoline user-fee fund revenues may be expended on the authority of the governing body of the county and municipalities in the county solely for the purpose of road construction, road improvements, and road maintenance, and any combination of these purposes. The Office of Research and Statistics of the State Budget and Control Board shall provide the appropriate population data for these distributions. Misallocations must be corrected by the State Treasurer in the manner provided in Section 4-10-360 for the Capital Projects Sales Tax.

Section 4-10-960.    The Department of Revenue may promulgate regulations and prescribe forms and procedures as necessary to implement the provisions of this article."

SECTION    2.    Section 12-6-545(B)(2) of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 41 of 2005, is amended to read:

"(2)    The rate of the income tax imposed pursuant to this subsection is:

Taxable Year Beginning in                                Rate of Tax

2006                                                6.5 percent

2007                                                6 percent

2008                                                5.5 percent

after 20082009                                5 percent

2010                                                4.5 percent

after 2010                                        4 percent"

SECTION    3.    Section 12-28-310 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 386 of 2006, is further amended to read:

"Section 12-28-310.    (A)    Subject to the exemptions provided in this chapter, a user fee of sixteen twenty-one cents a gallon is imposed on:

(1)    all gasoline, gasohol, or blended fuels containing gasoline that are used or consumed for any purpose in this State; and

(2)    all diesel fuel, substitute fuels, or alternative fuels, or blended fuels containing diesel fuel that are used or consumed in this State in producing or generating power for propelling motor vehicles.

(B)    The user fee levied on motor fuel subject to the user fee pursuant to this chapter is a levy and assessment on the consumer, and the levy and assessment on other persons as specified in this chapter are as agents of the State for the collection of the user fee. This section does not affect the method of collecting the user fee as provided in this chapter. The user fee imposed by this section must be collected and paid at those times, in the manner, and by the persons specified in this chapter.

(C)    The license user fee imposed by this section is instead of all sales, use, or other excise tax that may be imposed otherwise by any municipality, county, or other local political subdivision of the State.

(D)    Effective December 15, 2008, and each December fifteenth thereafter, the department cumulatively shall adjust the amount of the user fee imposed pursuant to subsection (A) of this section in the same manner that federal income tax brackets are adjusted in Internal Revenue Code Section 1(f), as that code is defined in Section 12-6-40(A). However, the rounding amount provided in Section 1(f)(6) is deemed to be one tenth of a cent. The amount of the user fee, as adjusted, applies beginning the next January first.

(E)    The revenue of five cents a gallon of the user fee imposed pursuant to this section must be credited to a segregated account within the State Highway Fund established pursuant to Section 57-11-20 and used only for road and highway maintenance.

(F)    The revenue attributable to increases in the user fee resulting from the annual adjustment made pursuant to subsection (D) of this section must be distributed proportionately among the various allocations of user-fee revenues."

SECTION    4.    Section 56-11-410 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-11-410.    (A)    A road tax for the privilege of using the streets and highways in this State is imposed upon every motor carrier. The tax is equivalent to sixteen twenty-one cents a gallon, calculated on the amount of gasoline or other motor fuel used by the motor carrier in its operations within this State. Except as credit for certain taxes as provided for in this chapter, taxes imposed on motor carriers by this chapter are in addition to taxes imposed upon the carriers by any other provision of law.

(B)    Effective December 15, 2008, and each December fifteenth thereafter, the department cumulatively shall adjust the amount of the road tax imposed pursuant to subsection (A) of this section in the same manner that federal income tax brackets are adjusted in Internal Revenue Code Section 1(f), as that code is defined in Section 12-6-40(A). However, the rounding amount provided in Section 1(f)(6) is deemed to be one tenth of a cent. The amount of the road tax, as adjusted, applies beginning the next January first.

(C)    The revenue of five cents a gallon of the road tax imposed pursuant to this section must be credited to a segregated account within the State Highway Fund established pursuant to Section 57-11-20 and used only for road and highway maintenance.

(D)    The revenue attributable to increases in the road tax resulting from the annual adjustment made pursuant to subsection (B) of this section must be distributed proportionately among the various allocations of road tax revenues."

SECTION    5.    Sections 3 and 4 of this act take effect July 1, 2007. The remaining provisions of this act take effect upon approval by the Governor.

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