Taxes and Spending

How South Carolina’s income tax cuts compare to the Southeast

With the governor's recent approval of the FY25 state budget, South Carolina will continue its positive trajectory on personal income tax rates, accelerating the reduction adopted two years ago by lowering the top marginal rate from 6.4% to 6.2%. Initially, the House this year proposed a 0.1% point reduction in...

Sydney Forte

Written by
August 15, 2024

  • How South Carolina’s income tax cuts compare to the Southeast

    With the governor's recent approval of the FY25 state budget, South Carolina will continue its positive trajectory on personal income tax rates, accelerating the reduction adopted two years ago by lowering the top marginal rate from 6.4% to 6.2%. Initially, the House this year proposed a 0.1% point reduction in...
    Sydney Forte

    Written by
    August 15, 2024

  • Budgetary process in need of transparency and accountability

    As state agencies prepare to submit their annual budget requests, now is an opportunity to re-evaluate the budgetary process and encourage the governor and agencies to comply with state budget law. 
    Sam Aaron

    Written by
    August 07, 2024

  • Budget breakdown: Where SC taxpayers’ money is going in FY25

    The dust has settled on South Carolina’s new budget following Governor McMaster's announcement of a relatively short list of vetoes in early July. The 21 vetoes, striking $2.3 million in earmark spending and nixing a handful of provisos, represent a small fraction of the overall budget and only marginally exceed...
    Bryce Fiedler

    Written by
    July 12, 2024

  • Getting the most tax relief out of the FY25 budget

    Update 6/21/24: After weeks of negotiations between House and Senate leaders, a budget conference committee on Friday advanced a compromise FY25 state appropriations bill that will accelerate this year's income tax reduction, taking the top rate from 6.4% to 6.2%. However, the House proposal to provide one-time property tax credits,...
    Bryce Fiedler

    Written by
    May 07, 2024

  • Transparency efforts could illuminate SC’s budget process

    Giving citizens a clearer picture of where their tax dollars are going, and why As a research intern for the S.C. Policy Council, I attended many legislative hearings over the spring months to learn about the state’s next budget. My objectives were twofold: see firsthand how the budget is constructed...
    Ella Williams

    Written by
    April 19, 2024

  • Mystery money: How to return the $1.8 billion to taxpayers

    Update 4/19/24: The Senate Finance subcommittee investigating the $1.8 billion issued an interim report on Tuesday. It recommends a forensic audit of the bank account in question, legislation to make the State Auditor more independent, and a constitutional amendment to make the Treasurer an appointed position instead of being elected by...
    Bryce Fiedler

    Written by
    April 12, 2024

  • Proposed SC budget exceeds recommended limit, could do more for tax relief

    Update 3/13/24: The House on Wednesday passed an initial draft of the next state budget, unchanged from the summary below. The week saw healthy debate and commendable efforts from lawmakers to challenge spending requests, including several noted in this report. We encourage the Senate, which goes next in the process, to utilize...
    Bryce Fiedler

    Written by
    March 08, 2024

  • Pricey projects on college budget wish lists

    Recently, some of South Carolina’s top universities shared their fiscal year 2024-25 spending plans with the Senate’s higher education budget subcommittee. The requests included plenty of high-dollar projects that would be funded with taxpayers’ money. Below are a few highlights.  
    Ella Williams

    Written by
    March 01, 2024

  • Impact: Upstate county pushing conservative budget ordinance

    Weeks after the Policy Council released its 2025 SC Sustainable Budget – a data-driven report aimed at reining in state government spending – an ambitious budget proposal was introduced to Upstate taxpayers. 
    Bryce Fiedler

    Written by
    February 09, 2024

  • Lawmakers send pension protection bill to governor's desk

    The S.C. Senate this week unanimously passed a bill (H.3690) to ensure that South Carolina’s pension funds are invested based on financial criteria to maximize shareholder value, not advance ESG (environmental, social, and governance) objectives. The bill, having passed the S.C. House last year in near-unanimous fashion, heads to Gov....
    Sam Aaron

    Written by
    January 18, 2024