Citizens panel set to hear from people in western York County about future road needs
York County citizens head west this week in the quest to clearly see what road needs are most urgent in that area.
Meanwhile, Lancaster County may in time, follow the path York County has set.
York County started the first-in-the-state one-cent sales tax program with a public referendum in 1997. The 1% tax on goods and services, collected in four seven-year Pennies for Progress programs, has led to more than $1 billion in direct or partnered road improvements.
A new referendum must be approved next year.
By law, York County Council must appoint a citizens’ commission to come up with a roads project list based on anticipated tax collections. That commission submits their list for council either to put on a ballot or not, but council can’t change the roads or priorities.
The citizens’ commission tasked with developing a new list of roads will meet community members from Sharon, Hickory Grove, Smyrna and McConnells on Wednesday night. The meeting will be at the Sharon Community Center on Woodlawn Street. The 6 p.m. meeting follows public meetings already in Tega Cay, Lake Wylie, Clover, York and Fort Mill.
A meeting in Rock Hill focused on regional road partners, but a dedicated meeting for the Rock Hill public comes Sept. 20.
Commission members in meetings this year stated a need to include roads from across the county, both as an issue of fairness and to help get the votes needed to pass the tax extension. If the upcoming Pennies proposal passes, the new charge would begin the day after the last one ends.
At a prior meeting, Catawba Regional Council of Governments planning director Stephen Allen described needs in western York County largely as intersection improvements.
“Road widenings are not necessarily the biggest priority on the western side of York County,” Allen told the commission in April. “It’s safety.”
Many of those intersections involved York and Clover. On Wednesday night, citizens from other areas on the more rural western side of the county can make their cases, too.
Citizens from anywhere in the county can submit road work needs online at penniesforprogress.net.
Lancaster County roads
People at public meetings to promote Pennies for Progress in York County note similar programs that have popped up across South Carolina.
Lancaster County could be next.
A Lancaster County Council subcomittee is meeting Wednesday at 4 p.m. in Lancaster.
On Wednesday’s agenda is a discussion on possible creation of an infrastructure investment fund or transportation sales tax program.
According to county documents prepared by staff, there are significant road needs. There’s discussion by the Rock Hill-Fort Mill Area Transportation Study on an eight-mile widening with intersection improvements along U.S. 521, or Charlotte Highway. That would take a local funding match.
The Lancaster County School District recently bought property in Indian Land, and has ongoing work toward a bond referendum. New schools and the population that fuels them in those areas could add strain to roads. Particularly older, smaller area roads that weren’t built with dense traffic in mind.
Council received information at a January retreat on a possible local sales tax for transportation. The county already has a similar setup for capital projects other than roads. The subcommittee Wednesday will work through details of a potential tax for roads, along with an investment fund where developers and others could make additional contributions to infrastructure needs.
According to the county staff information, road jobs can cost $500,000 or more per mile to upgrade or expand. Currently “there is no dedicated or significant funding to even begin to address the costs for these projects,” according to those documents.
The tax for roads is listed as a discussion item on Wednesday. If it were to progress, council would have to approve the process to set up the tax vote at later meetings.
This story was originally published August 16, 2023 at 10:55 AM.
