Are those candidates with new residences still paying lower tax rates?
To the editor:
Of course the other questions that needs to be asked [regarding candidates’ new residency] is, “Did those people change the residency designation on their former homes with the tax assessor or are they still shown as [owner-occupied, lower-taxed] QR4? If it has been changed, when was it done?”
— Amelia Dias, Charleston, S.C.
Safe to assume legislators must live in district during term
To the editor:
The question of whether an elected official must continue to reside in the district where he was elected throughout the entire term has been addressed by the S.C. Attorney General’s office several times, though I can find no opinion specifically relating to the legislature.
The Attorney General’s office issues advisory opinions. These do not have mandatory force of law, but represent the opinion of the office as to how the courts would likely find. In 1980, the attorney general issued an opinion that a county council member is likely required to reside in the district during the entire term. In 2006, it issued an opinion finding that “a member of the St. Andrews Public Service District must remain a resident of the district in order to continue to be qualified to serve. If the member no longer resides in the district, he or she automatically vacates the office, but continues as a de facto officer until a successor is chosen and qualifies.”
The attorney general’s office has emphasized that to be elected, one must be a “registered elector” in the district, and that it is logical that that implies the person must remain a registered elector in the district. The South Carolina Constitution, Section 4-9-90, strongly implies that county council members must remain residents of the district. Reading the attorney general opinions together with the S.C. Constitution, it is reasonable to suppose that a member of the legislature must remain a resident of the district throughout his term.
— Justin Alexander, Taylors, S.C.
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