In at least four different South Carolina counties, efforts by well-connected special interests to raise the sales tax failed. (Anderson County voted Yes, and Aiken County, where the effort to raise the sales tax was backed by a well-financed Georgia-based nonprofit, also bucked the trend and raised its tax. More on the latter controversy here.)
Leaving aside the merits or demerits of adding 1c to an already high sales tax, should the question of a tax hike even go before voters. Jonathon Hill, recently elected as a House member, strongly argued that it isn’t.