South Carolina General Assembly
124th Session, 2021-2022

Download This Bill in Microsoft Word format

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

S. 984

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Senators Hembree, Massey, Gustafson and Rankin
Document Path: l:\council\bills\nbd\11309dg22.docx

Introduced in the Senate on January 13, 2022
Introduced in the House on April 19, 2022
Last Amended on May 12, 2022
Currently residing in the House

Summary: Service fee

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   1/13/2022  Senate  Introduced and read first time (Senate Journal-page 3)
   1/13/2022  Senate  Referred to Committee on Finance (Senate Journal-page 3)
   3/29/2022  Senate  Committee report: Favorable Finance 
                        (Senate Journal-page 15)
   3/31/2022  Senate  Read second time (Senate Journal-page 42)
    4/7/2022  Senate  Amended (Senate Journal-page 19)
    4/7/2022  Senate  Read third time and sent to House 
                        (Senate Journal-page 19)
    4/7/2022  Senate  Roll call Ayes-32  Nays-7 (Senate Journal-page 19)
   4/19/2022  House   Introduced and read first time (House Journal-page 211)
   4/19/2022  House   Referred to Committee on Ways and Means 
                        (House Journal-page 211)
   4/28/2022  House   Committee report: Favorable with amendment Ways and 
                        Means (House Journal-page 11)
    5/5/2022  House   Debate adjourned (House Journal-page 72)
    5/5/2022  House   Requests for debate-Rep(s).  Stavrinakis, Rutherford, 
                        Hardee, Crawford, Wetmore, Burns, Haddon, Magnuson, 
                        Nutt, GR Smith, Trantham, May, McCabe, McGarry, 
                        Rivers, Kirby, S Williams, McGinnis, Chumley, Long 
                        (House Journal-page 73)
   5/11/2022  House   Requests for debate removed-Rep(s).  McGarry, Kirby 
                        (House Journal-page 59)
   5/11/2022  House   Debate adjourned (House Journal-page 95)
   5/11/2022  House   Roll call Yeas-57  Nays-54 (House Journal-page 95)
   5/11/2022  House   Reconsidered (House Journal-page 200)
   5/11/2022  House   Amended (House Journal-page 200)
   5/11/2022  House   Read second time (House Journal-page 200)
   5/11/2022  House   Roll call Yeas-112  Nays-1 (House Journal-page 205)
   5/12/2022  House   Read third time and returned to Senate with amendments 
                        (House Journal-page 108)
   5/12/2022  Senate  House amendment amended (Senate Journal-page 83)
   5/12/2022  Senate  Returned to House with amendments 
                        (Senate Journal-page 83)

View the latest legislative information at the website

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

1/13/2022
3/29/2022
4/19/2022
4/28/2022
5/11/2022
5/12/2022

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

Indicates Matter Stricken

Indicates New Matter

HOUSE AMENDMENTS AMENDED - RETURNED TO HOUSE

May 12, 2022

S. 984

Introduced by Senators Hembree, Massey, Gustafson and Rankin

S. Printed 5/12/22--S.

Read the first time April 19, 2022.

            

A BILL

TO AMEND SECTION 6-1-300, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO DEFINITIONS PERTAINING TO THE AUTHORITY OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TO ASSESS TAXES AND FEES, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT A SERVICE OR USER FEE MUST BE USED TO THE NONEXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF THE PAYERS; AND TO AMEND SECTION 6-1-330, RELATING TO A SERVICE OR USER FEE, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT A PROVISION APPLIES TO AN ENTIRE ARTICLE.

Amend Title To Conform

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION    1.    Section 6-1-300(6) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(6)    'Service or user fee' means a charge required to be paid in return for a particular government service or program made available to the payer that benefits the payer in some manner different from the members of the general public not paying the fee. 'Service or user fee' also includes 'uniform service charges'. The revenue generated from the fee must:

(a)    be used to the benefit of the payers, even if the general public also benefits;

(b)    only be used for the specific improvement contemplated;

(c)    not exceed the cost of the improvement; and

(d)    be uniformly imposed on all payers."

SECTION    2.    Section 6-1-330(A) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(A)    A local governing body, by ordinance approved by a positive majority, is authorized to charge and collect a service or user fee. A local governing body must provide public notice of any new service or user fee being considered and the governing body is required to hold a public hearing on any proposed new service or user fee prior to final adoption of any new service or user fee. Public comment must be received by the governing body prior to the final reading of the ordinance to adopt a new service or user fee. A fee adopted or imposed by a local governing body prior to December 31, 1996, remains in force and effect until repealed by the enacting local governing body, notwithstanding the provisions of this section article."

SECTION    3.    Section 6-1-330 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding appropriately lettered new subsections to read:

"(    )    A local governing body that repealed a road maintenance fee after June 30, 2021, and subsequently approved a millage increase for road maintenance, must repeal the millage imposed to replace the previous road maintenance fee before reimposing the road maintenance fee.

( )    A local governing body that imposes a user or service fee pursuant to Section 6-1-300(6) must publish the amount of dollars annually collected on each fee on the county's website."

SECTION    4.    Notwithstanding Section 8-21-30, et seq., no public officer shall be personally liable for any amount charged pursuant to SECTION 1.

SECTION    5.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor and applies retroactively to any service or fee imposed after December 31, 1996.

----XX----

This web page was last updated on May 24, 2022 at 11:57 AM