The Nerve

By RICK BRUNDRETT Despite reduced traffic in South Carolina over the past two months resulting from government-ordered shutdowns, a state surplus under the 2017 gas-tax-hike law continued to grow while most major paving projects went unfinished, newly released records show. Through April 30, the state collected $1.2 billion under the law, which could cover nearly […]

By RICK BRUNDRETT The state transportation department hasn’t replaced one bad bridge with gas-tax-hike revenues collected for nearly two years – despite promises by lawmakers that the money would be used to fix South Carolina’s crumbling roads and bridges. And the Department of Transportation has completed relatively few bridge projects in recent years with other […]

By RICK BRUNDRETT The S.C. Department of Transportation wants to fix the state’s bad roads and bridges over a 10-year period, but it might not hit that target at the rate projects are being completed, a review by The Nerve found. From July 1, 2017, when the gas-tax-hike law took effect, through April of this […]

By RICK BRUNDRETT The state transportation department plans to spend well more than a third of gas-tax-hike revenues on widening and repaving interstates instead of using those funds to repair crumbling community roads and bridges – as promised by lawmakers – according to an agency document obtained by The Nerve. In a PowerPoint presentation to […]

  By RICK BRUNDRETT A proposal by a longtime S.C. senator would siphon millions from a main source of gas-tax-hike revenues that lawmakers promised would go toward fixing the state’s crumbling roads and bridges, and instead earmark that money for widening interstates. It also could be a way around what the state transportation chief previously […]

By RICK BRUNDRETT As of the end of October, nearly $361 million in collected gas-tax-hike revenues had not been spent – 16 months after the law authorizing the increases went into effect, recently released records show. The $360.9 million balance represented about 45 percent of the $802.2 million in “project commitments” identified by the state […]

By RICK BRUNDRETT In the first year of a controversial law hiking the state’s gasoline tax and other fees, the S.C. Department of Transportation spent no proceeds in 20 of South Carolina’s 46 counties, newly released records show. Overall, only about $7 million, or 2.2 percent, of $312.6 million in total revenues collected from July […]

  By RICK BRUNDRETT One year after the state law took effect hiking the gasoline tax and other fees that lawmakers promised would go toward fixing South Carolina’s deteriorating roads and bridges, motorists continue to see little results for their money. Documents with the state Department of Transportation and Comptroller General’s Office show that of […]

By RICK BRUNDRETT At last week’s S.C. Department of Transportation Commission meeting, agency head Christy Hall bragged about the “record level of road work underway currently in South Carolina.” “We have delivered results for our taxpayers and for our citizens of this state,” Hall proudly told commissioners Thursday. But as of the end of the […]

By RICK BRUNDRETT When S.C. lawmakers passed the gas-tax-hike bill last year, they promised every penny would go toward fixing deteriorating state roads and bridges. Critics, though, said then that filling potholes that riddle South Carolina’s roadways was never the real priority. Instead, they contended, the law as written allows millions of dollars generated primarily […]