$2 billion of ballot decisions could transform Rock Hill region schools and roads
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will get voters to the polls, but $2 billion worth of decisions further down the ballot could reshape the Rock Hill region well beyond election day.
Like any presidential election year, voter turnout is expected to swell this fall as people across the Rock Hill region make their picks for the nation’s top office. But red, blue, third-party and independent voters alike will decide Nov. 5 whether new schools and roads will be built.
Here’s what voters need to know about some of the biggest bond referendum questions ever in York, Lancaster and Chester counties:
Lancaster County School District bond
A $588.2 million school bond in Lancaster County stretches across a broad list. It covers the whole county but much of it involves high-growth Indian Land. A new high school and elementary school would be built there. Indian Land High School would get athletic upgrades.
Kershaw and Lancaster would each get a new elementary school. The district office and maintenance facilities would be upgraded. Schools throughout Indian Land, Lancaster, Kershaw and Buford would get safety, athletic and other improvements.
Bond money would buy new buses. Career and technology education space would be expanded, and the bond allows for spending on land for future schools.
Here’s the full list of projects on the ballot.
Pennies for Progress
York County started a one-cent sales tax program in 1997 to pay for road construction. Pennies for Progress runs in seven-year campaigns, meaning voters routinely have to decide whether to extend the tax. This year’s vote is the fifth campaign.
Each Pennies ballot lists an amount county transportation experts believe a new seven-year tax would generate, and the projects that would be built using that money if voters approve it. This year’s ballot has a record $410.7 million in road projects.
Some of the bigger projects include $44.9 million to widen U.S. 21 in Fort Mill from S.C. 160 to Sutton Road, $12.9 million of improvements on the Neely Road corridor in Rock Hill and $9 million for design work to widen a portion of Fort Mill Parkway.
A full list of projects and projected costs is at penniesforprogress.net. A “yes” vote extends the cent sale tax for seven years, starting in May when collections for the current Pennies campaign ends. A “no” vote lets the tax expire in the spring.
See the ballot question online here.
Lancaster County road tax
A new transportation tax in Lancaster County puts two questions to voters there.
The first asks whether a one-cent sales tax can be charged for road work. It would generate $405 million or last 15 years, whichever comes first. The ballot mentions improvements to U.S. 521 and Henry Harris Road specifically. Money could be spent on highways, roads, streets, bridges — all the way down to sidewalks and bike paths.
While it isn’t spelled out in the ballot question, Lancaster County has a list of road jobs they’d expect to complete. The most money, $165 million, is for U.S. 521 or major road widening.
The second vote for Lancaster County could impact timing of road jobs or be meaningless, depending on the first question. If the first vote passes, the second question asks voters whether the county can issue $250 million in bonds to fund road jobs. That money would be paid back by the sales tax created by the first question.
The $250 million in bonds would allow the county to get started on jobs quicker, compared to waiting for the sales tax to collect that amount. Of the $250 million, at least $60 million would be specific to U.S. 521 widening.
The first ballot question is online here, followed here by the second ballot question.
Chester County School District bond
A $227 million bond referendum in Chester County would pay for two new replacement high schools and renovations at a third. Chester and Lewisville high schools would be replaced. Great Falls High School would remain, but get upgrades in security, science classrooms, fine arts and gym space.
Read the question on the ballot for Chester County here.
York School District bond
The York School District will ask its voters for up to $90 million for new and renovated schools.
The project list includes a new middle school. York One Academy, the district’s alternative learning school, would be expanded and renovated to become an early childhood center. The bond would pay for other district purchases, plus renovation or expansion at existing school sites.
Here’s the online ballot question.
This story was originally published October 21, 2024 at 5:58 AM.
