The City of Beaufort is winding down its 2023–24 fiscal budget year on June 30th, 2024.
When approving this budget unanimously back in June 2023, the City Manager and several council members stated that the budget was revenue neutral (p. 45) and that property taxes would not increase. The empirical facts, however, are in direct opposition to the City’s promises.
The City’s budget presentation for 2023–24, released in May 2023, included projected property tax increases of approximately 7%. Back testing of public data performed in June 2024 by the Beaufort Insider, across a broad range of City commercial and residential properties, revealed property tax increases averaging 9%.
City Council members, several of whom publicly deflected questions and would not confirm that property taxes would increase as a result of the 2023–24 budget, experienced property tax increases of their own residences up to 13%:
2022 versus 2023 Property Tax Increase
| 2022 Tax | 2023 Tax | Increase | Increase % | |
| Neil Lipsitz | $517.69 | $584.55 | $66.86 | 12.9% |
| Phil Cromer | $1,551.49 | $1,707.83 | $156.34 | 10.1% |
| Mitch Mitchell | $2,824.59 | $3,091.97 | $267.38 | 9.5% |
| Mike McFee | $1,598.41 | $1,737.39 | $138.98 | 8.7% |
| Josh Scallate | $938.40 | $979.92 | $41.52 | 4.4% |
| Total | $7,430.58 | $8,101.66 | $671.08 | 9.0% |
City taxes levied on businesses operating within the City also increased from $5.32 million in fiscal year 2022–23 amended budget to $6.12 million in fiscal year 2023–24 resulting in a $798,168 increase equal to 15%.
Just recently, the City approved its fiscal year 2024–25 general fund budget. Again, the city administration and the city council asserted that the budget was “revenue neutral” and would not increase property taxes. In fact, the City’s press release, which was printed in The Island News as “staff reports”, asserts that the total budget, including expected capital expenditures, decreased by $2 million. While factually correct, the City press release failed to mention that the general fund operating budget increased by $2.1 million.
The City’s celebration of an overall $2 million budget decrease was simply attributed to the fact that the City would spend $4 million less on capital spending projects as SC State or Federal grants have dried up.
The general fund is the City’s main operating fund and is financed primarily by City property taxes as well as from taxes on businesses. In fiscal year 2023–24, the general fund budget will come in at $2.5 million more than the previous year’s $23.72 million. This amounts to a year on year spending increase of over 10%. Long term inflation runs at 2.5%. The City is therefore increasing its spending at an annual rate of 7.5 percentage points higher than the inflation rate.
All of this means that Beaufortonians’ 2024 tax bill, which will be received toward the end of the calendar year, will show increased City of Beaufort property taxes. Taxes on City businesses will also go up. In fact, the City Managers own presentation shows an increase in property taxes of well over $300,000 plus an increase in business taxes of $750,000.
See if your City taxes increased: https://www.beaufortcountytreasurer.com/tax-bill-lookup
The Beaufort Insider will continue to follow this story and bring the facts to Beaufortonians.
I’m still trying to understand how some are only paying under $600 or $900 in property taxes? We just went thru a full reassessment. How did this happen? Tiny houses, trailers? What could explain this?
When you purchase a home its assessed value becomes the purchase price. The following year taxes will reflect this “Fair Market Value”. If you bought a home some years ago before the spike in values the reassessment which occurs every 5 years is limited to 15% of base value forever. Over time this would result in a lower tax bill as compared to other properties due to the disparities in a rising market.
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