HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — Horry County residents on Tuesday will vote either in favor or against a sales tax that will enable expansions of transportation projects for 25 years.
RIDE IV is the first and only Horry County question voters will see on their ballots and has sparked controversy throughout the Grand Strand.
Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce Chief Advocacy Officer Jimmy Gray talked about what would happen if the penny tax doesn’t pass. He said there’s two options if RIDE IV is delayed because of election results.
One option is another vote in two years, or a property tax increase. Gray said the county would lose about $150 million per year in road construction revenue. He said other projects on the list may also get more expensive.
“That’s all Horry County residents paying it. The visitors, in that case, get a free ride. They’re not paying anything when we’re just upgrading our property taxes, because at the end of the day, the roads are going to need to be fixed,” he said. “The local government would need to find a source of revenue to do that and your and my property taxes would, unfortunately, be something they would look at.”