Anderson County Seeing Benefits of S.C. Gas Tax Hike

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

For the past two years, Anderson County and their fellow South Carolina motorists have paid more at the pump under a gas-tax hike lawmakers said would lead to the largest investment in state history to fix the state’s damaged and deteriorating roads.

Since going into effect July 1, 2017,  the four-cents-on-a-dollar gas tax has generated $149 million in additional funding for state road improvements. After almost two years of collecting the extra tax revenue, counties are beginning to see results.

So far, the state has collected $541 million in new road money from increases in the gas tax and user fees. Of that, about $116 million has been distributed, including $13 million in tax credits to motorists and $35 million to county road committees for local roads. This year was the first year S.C. residents could submit receipts for gas purchases and vehicle maintenance to claim a tax credit on their state income taxes.

Almost $13 million of the state fund is committed to state road construction projects in Anderson County. The county has already completed $1.5 million in state road projects from the new gas tax trust fund. The largest bulk of these projects, some of which has been completed, include:

$932,188 for construction/repair on Belton-Honea Path Highway.

$521,035 for Whitehall Road

$42,042 for Pearman Dairy Road

$14,599 for S.C. 81 SouthMasters Boulevard

Future construction/repair slated to begin soon on state roads in Anderson County includes:

$4,922,603 - Belton Highway; Anderson Street

$2,821,994 - S.C. 81 South; South Murray Avenue; Liberty Highway

$2,520.536 - Lebanon Road; Concord Road; Harris Bridge Road

$981,713 - East River Street

$536.667 - Greenville Street/S.C. 81 North 

$489,822 = Belton-Honea Path Highway

$328,056 - Reed Road

$131,618 - Old Asbury Road; Whitehall Avenue; Three and Twenty Road; St. Paul Road; McGee Road; Big Creek Road; North Hamilton Street; Palmetto Road; Three Bridges Road; River Road; Old Anderson Road; Shady Grove Road; Standridge Road

$58,674 - S.C. 153

$33,064 - East-West Parkway 

More than 30 other state roads in the county are also slated for construction/repair as well, but have not been given specific amounts by the South Carolina Department of Transportation.

Additionally, almost $19 million is new gas tax revenue will be used for development of state roads in Anderson County.

The current state road development plan includes:

$11,728.648 - Highway 24 (four projects); East River Street; Clemson Boulevard; and West River Street

$3,770,494 - Easley Highway

$1,881,865 - Harbin Drive; Jackson Street; Rogers Street; Bleckley Street

$476,007 - Daniels Street; Sanders Street; Wilson Street; Kennedy Street; Boundary Street; Osborne Avenue; Collingwood Drive; Dooley Avenue; Shannon Way

A total of $610,231 is set aside from the new tax money for rural road safety and bridges in Anderson County. 

Rural Road Safety projects include $600,321 for four projects on Highway 24.

Rainey Road is slated for the only current bridge project on the list with $470,000 for the project.

The delay in spending and completing projects stems in part from it taking time for contractors to schedule the work, S.C. Secretary of Transportation Christy Hall told The State newspaper. Hurricane Florence, other storms and “unusually wet weather” also have slowed progress, she said. 

Statewide plans to ramp up its resurfacing program about $60 million each year, and drivers will notice.

 “As we get into the spring and summer months, we will see those numbers increase pretty significantly,” Hall said.

Even with the delays, however, the new gas tax has led to a record level of road work underway across the state, according to newly released records from the S.C. Department of Transportation.

For the first time in the agency’s history, the total amount of road work underway on the state’s highways exceeded $3 billion in a year, three times the state’s typical annual spending on roads. 

Money from the gas tax increase, is scheduled to pay for $812 million in projects currently under construction and another $169 million in development, according to the DOT. Those projects, combined with the $19 million already completed, total $1 billion in investments. 

A bulk of the road money, nearly $650 million, will pay for paving 2,240 miles of state roads. About $246 million is earmarked to assist with interstate widening projects. Another $95 million is set aside for rural road safety improvements, such as widening shoulders and adding guardrails, and $10 million will replace 15 structurally deficient bridges.