The Revenue Impact of Corporate Tax Incentives on South Carolina Public Schools
Type
Policy Brief or Report
Year
2020
Level
County, School District, State
State(s)
All States
Policy Areas
Economic Justice, Education
Public school districts in South Carolina suffered a sharp increase in lost tax revenue in FY 2019 due to tax breaks granted to private corporations by county governments. The revenues of South Carolina’s school districts are reduced via state permitted programs that grant businesses tax abatements for extremely long periods of time, which could effectively be permanent exemptions. This report offers a variety of policy options to protect the public education system from corporate tax abatements; these include shielding school finance and implementing a county-based disclosure system to ensure that costs and benefits are fully visible for each employer granted an abatement.