By Lindsay Street, Statehouse correspondent | South Carolina ended the 2018 fiscal year on June 30 with $177 million more in the coffers than expected, according to a press release from the S.C. Comptroller’s Office.
But with great surplus comes great responsibility, or so Comptroller Richard Eckstrom warned.
“It’s worth remembering that good times don’t last forever,” Eckstrom wrote. “The General Assembly would be wise to resist any ‘spending spree’ temptation, considering instead using some or all of the surplus revenue to shore up the state’s all-important rainy-day balances. Restraint now could avert a crisis in the lean years that are sure to come.”
He continued that he considered it “wise” to put any surplus toward the state’s retirement system.
General fund revenues increased by $542 million over the previous year’s revenues, bringing in $8.1 billion in fiscal year 2018 compared with $7.6 billion in fiscal year 2017, a 7 percent growth rate. Most of the $542 million of additional revenue was claimed by increased spending in 2018 but there was $177 million non-obligated.
“Finishing the year with such a large surplus is obviously great news – a testament to the strength of our state’s economy, which is experiencing broad growth with increases in employment, personal income, and take-home pay,” Eckstrom wrote in the press release.
Nonetheless, some words of caution are in order.
In the budget, lawmakers designated any surplus to roll over into the following year’s contingency fund, according to a House staff member. Lawmakers could decide what to do with that one-time money in January, according to a Senate staff member.
In other news this week:
Conformity. State senators met again this week to discuss when and how to align the state’s tax code with the federal government’s to avoid taxpayer headaches, help with compliance and also avoid an unintended tax hike due to lost deductions. S.C. Sen. Ronnie Cromer, R-Lexington, who serves on the conformity subcommittee, told Statehouse Report he expects lawmakers to address conformity in September. Requests for comment from President Pro Tempore Hugh Leatherman in the Senate and House Speaker Jay Lucas were not returned.
Internet sales tax. Beginning Oct. 1, the state will begin collecting sales tax from internet sales to buyers in South Carolina. A U.S. Supreme Court decision paved the way for the move, in which the state was already threatening action against Amazon for third-party sales. Read more here.
Drunk driving. South Carolina has found itself at the top of another not-so-good list. The state has the second highest number of drunk-driving fatalities in the nation, according to a study by home security company SafeWise. Montana was the only state worse than South Carolina. In the Palmetto State, there were 7.98 impaired driving fatalities per 100,000 residents. To compare, South Carolina’s marriage rate is 6.6 per 100,000 people annually. That means there are more people dying from drunk driving every year than getting married in the state, if you compare the death rates from SafeWise and from CDC.
Agriculture online. The state’s only urban permaculture farm and grocery Fresh Future Farm of North Charleston has teamed up with Lowcountry Rice Culture Project and Benedict College to launch an online certificate program. The Agricultural Entrepreneurship Certificate Program will offer learning for students in on-site practicums at Fresh Future Farm and virtually with video footage. Fresh Future Farm has earned national acclaim for bringing fresh food to the food desert of North Charleston. Watch the press conference here.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!