CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – Charleston County community leaders are looking to take the next step after the transportation referendum failed.
The half-cent sales taxes received no wins at the county precincts, nearly 60% voted in opposition overall. Officials repeated the same message after the results came out.
“We were just really gratified that the voters of Charleston County spoke loudly and clearly about this referendum,” Faith River James, executive director of South Carolina’s Coastal Conservation League, said.
With the 2004 sales tax expiring in two years, leaders hope they and the community can come together to work a referendum that everyone can support.
“We’re going to have a conservation as a community between county council, the leaders in the community, and the community at large about what the long-term vision is for infrastructure and whether a half-cents sales tax is going to be a parcel of that formula,” Mike Seekings, CARTA chairman and city councilman, said. “And I believe really, truly, that it is and this community wants to get a yes – and we will.”