Legislation has been proposed in South Carolina that could reduce taxes for boatowners in the state, but officials in some counties are concerned about local governments losing money.
Currently boat owners separately title and pay taxes on their boat and each outboard motor. This means they pay multiple property tax bills every year for one boat.
According to News From the States, the bill was in the state senate in late March. Under the legislation outboard motors would no longer require a title for each unit or proof of ownership through the state department of natural resources. The motors’ value would be combined with the boat for a single property tax bill.
Property taxes are collected by counties in South Carolina and are used to fund a variety of local services and schools. Fiscal experts predict the DNR would lose about $475,000 in titling fees and $343,000 in sales taxes.
According to the website, more than 368,300 boats are registered in the state with nearly 164,000 outboards that are separately titled and taxed.
County officials are reportedly concerned about losing money because there would be no way of knowing when a boat owner replaces an older motor with a new one. Plus, some counties could no longer collect anything on the boat because the bill shifts who collects the property taxes. The new legislation would also have the boats taxed where they’re docked or stored, not where the owner lives. That could move collections to coastal counties like Charleston and Beaufort and those with larger lakes like Lexington.
Vessel owners could benefit if they keep their boat in a county with a lower tax rate than where they live. One proponent of the bill suggest that taxes for a boat should go to the local government responsible for providing fire, rescue and other services to the boat.
