By RICK BRUNDRETT Allowing Union County Transportation Committee members to make up to $750 a year – paid out of state gas-tax money – is too costly for taxpayers, says a co-sponsor of a bill that would pay those members for attending regular meetings. “It is high,” said Rep. Bill Clyburn, D-Aiken, when contacted Monday […]
Tag Archives: CTC
First 2.5 years of gas-tax-hike law: Revenues far outpace completed projects
January 31, 2020

By RICK BRUNDRETT No paving projects were completed between the end of November and December with gas-tax-hike funds in 37 of South Carolina’s 46 counties, though the state had nearly a half-billion dollars in available cash for those projects, records show. In the first two-and-a-half years of the gas-tax-hike law, a total of $1.04 billion […]
Road-naming legislation cuts into road repair funds
September 21, 2019

By RICK BRUNDRETT When in session, S.C. lawmakers routinely introduce legislation dedicating an existing road section, bridge or intersection to a living or deceased person – including ex-legislators. Their road- and bridge-naming proposals are made through concurrent resolutions, which unlike general bills, can’t be reviewed by the governor. Since 2017, legislators have approved 57 such […]
First 2 years of gas-tax-hike law: Little work completed despite fat cash reserves
August 14, 2019

By RICK BRUNDRETT In the first two years of the gas-tax-hike law, the state collected enough money to pay for three-quarters of the identified $1 billion in road and bridge projects, yet the S.C. Department of Transportation completed or “substantially” completed just 8% of the total projected tab, newly released DOT records show. As of […]
First 13 months of gas-tax-hike law: Little spent, roads not fixed
September 27, 2018

By RICK BRUNDRETT The S.C. Department of Transportation continues to sit on most of the hundreds of millions of dollars collected since the gas-tax-hike law went into effect nearly 15 months ago. Less than $9 million, or 2.7 percent, of the $324.2 million collected between July 1, 2017, and July 31 of this year was […]
Gas tax hike: Millions collected, but rough roads remain in S.C.
March 21, 2018

By RICK BRUNDRETT Nearly nine months after the state law took effect hiking the gasoline tax and other taxes and fees – purportedly to fix South Carolina’s crumbling roads – the authorized money has yet to be spent, though more than $131 million has been collected. At least that’s what online records from Comptroller General […]
February 5, 2020
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