South Carolina General Assembly
117th Session, 2007-2008

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Bill 4355

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter


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

Indicates Matter Stricken

Indicates New Matter

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ADOPTED

May 29, 2008

H. 4355

Introduced by Reps. Harrell, Kirsh, Bales, Lowe, E.H. Pitts, Cotty, Mahaffey, Battle and Crawford

S. Printed 5/29/08--S.    [SEC 5/30/08 3:33 PM]

Read the first time May 1, 2008.

            

A BILL

TO AMEND SECTIONS 4-10-20, 4-10-350, 4-10-580, AND 4-37-30, ALL AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE LOCAL OPTION SALES TAX, THE CAPITAL PROJECT SALES TAX, THE PERSONAL PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION SALES TAX, AND THE TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE SALES TAX, SO AS TO EXEMPT FROM THESE TAXES UNPREPARED FOOD ITEMS ELIGIBLE FOR PURCHASE WITH UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOOD COUPONS AND MAKE THIS EXEMPTION APPLY PROSPECTIVELY; AND TO AMEND SECTION 12-36-2120, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO SALES AND USE TAX EXEMPTIONS, SO AS TO ALLOW A COUNTY GOVERNING BOARD BY ORDINANCE TO EXTEND THE STATE SALES TAX EXEMPTION FOR FOOD ITEMS TO A LOCALLY IMPOSED SALES AND USE TAX.

Amend Title To Conform

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

SECTION    1.    Section 4-10-20 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 151 of 1997, is further amended to read:

"Section 4-10-20.    A county, upon referendum approval, may levy a sales and use tax of one percent on the gross proceeds of sales within the county area which are subject to tax under Chapter 36 of Title 12 and the enforcement provisions of Chapter 54 of Title 12. The sale of items with a maximum tax levied in accordance with Section 12-36-2110 and Article 17 of Chapter 36 of Title 12 is exempt from the local sales and use tax. Upon a majority vote of the county's governing body and upon referendum approval, unprepared food items eligible for purchase with United States Department of Agriculture food coupons may be exempted from the tax imposed pursuant to this article. The adopted rate also applies to tangible personal property subject to the use tax in Section 12-36-1310. Taxpayers required to remit taxes under Section 12-36-1310 shall identify the county or municipality in the county area in which tangible personal property purchased at retail is stored, used, or consumed in this State. Utilities are required to report sales in the county or municipality in which consumption of the tangible personal property occurs. A taxpayer subject to the tax imposed by Section 12-36-920, who owns or manages rental units in more than one county or municipality, shall report separately in his sales tax return the total gross proceeds from business done in each county or municipality."

SECTION    2.    Section 4-10-350(B) of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 138 of 1997, is amended to read:

"(B)    The tax authorized by this article is in addition to all other local sales and use taxes and applies to the gross proceeds of sales in the applicable area that is subject to the tax imposed by Chapter 36 of Title 12 and the enforcement provisions of Chapter 54 of Title 12. The gross proceeds of the sale of items subject to a maximum tax in Chapter 36 of Title 12 are exempt from the tax imposed by this article. Upon a majority vote of the county's governing body and upon referendum approval, unprepared food items eligible for purchase with United States Department of Agriculture food coupons may be exempted from the tax imposed pursuant to this article. The tax imposed by this article also applies to tangible personal property subject to the use tax in Article 13, Chapter 36 of Title 12."

SECTION    3.    Section 4-10-580(B) of the 1976 Code, as added by Section 99, Part II, Act 387 of 2000, is amended to read:

"(B)    The tax authorized by this article is in addition to all other local sales and use taxes and applies to the gross proceeds of sales in the applicable area that is subject to the tax imposed by Chapter 36 of Title 12 and the enforcement provisions of Chapter 54 of Title 12. The gross proceeds of the sale of items subject to a maximum tax in Chapter 36 of Title 12 are exempt from the tax imposed by this article. Upon a majority vote of the county's governing body and upon referendum approval, unprepared food items eligible for purchase with United States Department of Agriculture food coupons may be exempted from the tax imposed pursuant to this article. The tax imposed by this article also applies to tangible personal property subject to the use tax in Article 13, Chapter 36 of Title 12."

SECTION    4.    Section 4-37-30(A)(9) of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 368 of 2000, is further amended to read:

"(9)    The tax authorized by this section is in addition to all other local sales and use taxes and applies to the gross proceeds of sales in the applicable jurisdiction which are subject to the tax imposed by Chapter 36 of Title 12 and the enforcement provisions of Chapter 54 of Title 12. The gross proceeds of the sale of items subject to a maximum tax in Chapter 36 of Title 12 are exempt from the tax imposed by this section. The gross proceeds of the sale of food lawfully purchased with Upon a majority vote of the county's governing body and upon referendum approval, unprepared food items eligible for purchase with United States Department of Agriculture food stamps coupons may be exempted are exempt from the tax imposed by this section. The tax imposed by this section also applies to tangible personal property subject to the use tax in Article 13, Chapter 36 of Title 12."

SECTION    5.    Section 12-36-2120(75) of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 115 of 2007, is amended to read:

"(75)(a)    unprepared food that lawfully may be purchased with United States Department of Agriculture food coupons. Except as provided in subsection (b) of this item However, the exemption allowed by this item applies only to the state sales and use tax imposed pursuant to this chapter.

(b)    if a locally imposed sales and use tax administered by the South Carolina Department of Revenue currently applies to food items exempt from state sales and use tax pursuant to subitem (1) of this item, the governing body of the county imposing that local sales and use tax by ordinance may extend that state sales and use tax exemption to the local sales and use tax imposed in the county. The exemption ordinance takes effect on the first day of the third month following the month in which the county files a certified copy of the exemption ordinance with the director of the South Carolina Department of Revenue."

SECTION    6.    Section 4-10-330(C) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(C)    Upon receipt of the ordinance, the county election commission must conduct a referendum on the question of imposing the sales and use tax in the area of the county that is to be subject to the tax. The referendum for this purpose must be held at the time of the general election unless the vote is to reimpose a tax in effect on or before June 1, 2002 2008, and in existence at the time of such vote, in which case the referendum may be held on a general election day or at a time the governing body of the county and the Department of Revenue determine necessary to permit the tax to be reinstated and continue without interruption. The choice of election times rests with the governing body of the county. However, a referendum to reimpose an existing tax as permitted above may only be held once whether or not the referendum is held on a general election day or at another time. Two weeks before the referendum the election commission must publish in a newspaper of general circulation the question that is to appear on the ballot, with the list of projects and the cost of the projects. If the proposed question includes the use of sales taxes to defray debt service on bonds issued to pay the costs of any project, the notice must include a statement indicating that principal amount of the bonds proposed to be issued for the purpose and, if the issuance of the bonds is to be approved as part of the referendum, stating that the referendum includes the authorization of the issuance of bonds in that amount. This notice is in lieu of any other notice otherwise required by law."

SECTION    7.    Section 4-10-330(A)(1) of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 292 of 2004, is further amended to read:

"(A)    The sales and use tax authorized by this article is imposed by an enacting ordinance of the county governing body containing the ballot question formulated by the commission pursuant to Section 4-10-320(C), subject to referendum approval in the county. The ordinance must specify:

(1)    the purpose for which the proceeds of the tax are to be used, which may include projects located within or without, or both within and without, the boundaries of the local governmental entities, including the county, municipalities, and special purpose districts located in the county area, and may include the following types of projects:

(a)    highways, roads, streets, bridges, and public parking garages and related facilities;

(b)    courthouses, administration buildings, civic centers, hospitals, emergency medical facilities, police stations, fire stations, jails, correctional facilities, detention facilities, libraries, coliseums, or any combination of these projects;

(c)    cultural, recreational, or historic facilities, or any combination of these facilities;

(d)    water, sewer, or water and sewer projects;

(e)    flood control projects and storm water management facilities;

(f)    beach access and beach renourishment;

(g)    acquisition of interests in real property, including the purchase of development rights, for economic development, conservation, blight remediation, or military base protection;

(g)(h)    jointly operated projects of the county, a municipality, special purpose district, and school district, or any combination of those entities, for the projects delineated in subitems (a) through (f) (g) of this item; or

(h)(i)    any combination of the projects described in subitems (a) through (g) (h) of this item;"

SECTION    8.    Section 6-1-760 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 6-1-760.    Notwithstanding any provision of this article, any ordinance enacted by county or municipality prior to March 15, 1997, imposing an accommodations fee which does not exceed the three percent maximum cumulative rate prescribed in Section 6-1-540, is calculated upon a base consistent with Section 6-1-510(1), and the revenue from which is used for the purposes enumerated in Section 6-1-530, remains authorized and effective after the effective date of this section. and the enacting Any county or municipality is authorized to issue bonds, pursuant to Article X, Section 14(10) of the Constitution of this State, utilizing the procedures of Section 4-29-68, Section 6-17-10, et seq., or Section 6-21-10, et seq., for the purposes enumerated in Section 6-1-530, to pledge as security for such bonds and to retire such debt using bonds with the proceeds of such an accommodations fee ordinance accommodations fees imposed under Article 5 of this chapter, hospitality fees imposed under this chapter, state accommodations fees allocated pursuant to Section 6-4-10(1), (2), and (4), or any combination thereof, and the pledge of such other non-tax revenues as may be available for those purposes. Fees allocated pursuant to Section 6-4-10(3) must be allocated to a special fund and used only for advertising and promotion of tourism to develop and increase tourist attendance through the generation of publicity, and not used to pledge as security for bonds and to retire bonds."

SECTION    9.    Section 6-4-10(3) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(3)    Thirty percent of the balance must be allocated to a special fund and used only for advertising and promotion of tourism to develop and increase tourist attendance through the generation of publicity. To manage and direct the expenditure of these tourism promotion funds, the municipality or county shall select one or more organizations, such as a chamber of commerce, visitor and convention bureau, or regional tourism commission, which has an existing, ongoing tourist promotion program. If no organization exists, the municipality or county shall create an organization with the same membership standard in Section 6-4-25. To be eligible for selection the organization must be organized as a nonprofit organization and shall demonstrate to the municipality or county that it has an existing, ongoing tourism promotion program or that it can develop an effective tourism promotion program. Immediately upon an allocation to the special fund, a municipality or county shall distribute the tourism promotion funds to the organizations selected or created to receive them. Before the beginning of each fiscal year, an organization receiving funds from the accommodations tax from a municipality or county shall submit for approval a budget of planned expenditures. At the end of each fiscal year, an organization receiving funds shall render an accounting of the expenditure to the municipality or county which distributed them. Fees allocated pursuant to this subsection must not be used to pledge as security for bonds and to retire bonds."

SECTION    10.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor, but the amendments to Sections 4-10-20, 4-10-350(B), 4-10-580(B), and 4-37-30(A)(9) of the 1976 Code contained in this act apply with respect to local sales and use taxes imposed or reimposed on or after that date.

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