1 week Ago
PICKENS — The Pickens County Council voted to opt out of a proposed tax district that could potentially fund affordable housing in Clemson – but that doesn’t mean it’s entirely out of the picture. In a 4-1 vote with Councilman Henry Wilson absent, the Pickens County Council voted at a Nov. 11 committee meeting to remove itself from the initial Tax Increment Financing agreement with the city of Clemson .
It reserved the right to negotiate, though, which could happen ahead of Jan. 1 when the first tax revenue increase could be captured. The special tax program would take increased property taxes within a set timeframe from the area where a student housing development is planned near Lake Hartwell in Clemson and use it to build infrastructure for affordable housing on Clemson University property near the former Bi-Lo on S.
C. Highway 93. It would be the first such use of TIF funds since the state Legislature approved affordable housing as an acceptable recipient.
Pickens County and the School District of Pickens County each receive property taxes and, without objecting by Dec. 2, would have been included in the TIF project. Without all four entities involved, the impact of the housing lessens, City Administrator Andy Blondeau said, and fewer potential clients would receive assistance with buying a home.
What two entities can accomplish won’t be as beneficial to the community, Blondeau said, and there’s no need to pursue a TIF if the school district also pulls its support. Clemson would still move forward with a smaller-scale project on the land it purchased last year to boost workforce housing in city limits. “The question comes down to, ‘Will we revisit this in December in order to really capture money or has the can been kicked?’” County Councilwoman Claiborne Linvill, the Clemson representative and sole vote in favor of the TIF, told The Post and Courier.
“We do still have the option to negotiate back in so that we can discuss this further. Timing matters. If we negotiate back in before December, it makes a much more significant difference than if we wait.
” There’s an additional $50,000 or so on the line if the county negotiates in before Jan. 1, 2025, county attorney Les Hendricks said. “There’s nothing preventing us from saying ‘Yes, we want to be in at a later time,’ – until the bonds are issued,” he said.
“We’ve not lost the ability to negotiate something that’s more satisfactory to all parties.” The county councilmen who voted against the plan said they still had questions about how everything would work with the outlined districts, housing allotments and management of inventory . Linvill understands the sentiment, noting this TIF takes advantage of new legislation and hasn’t been used in South Carolina.
“I understand that there are frustrations with the intentional flexibility of this TIF, but it is the nature of this kind of TIF that it will require community listening sessions, and it will require a full housing survey to make sure the needs of this community are being met,” she said. This type of project must be grassroots rather than top-down with the government deciding what’s best for its citizens, she said. The timing also seems quick, but there was a lot of noise around the city election that she feels detracted from the city’s ability to get information out about the plan.
“At the end of the day, if our council doesn’t take some action, you can say, ‘Sorry, sucker, because we’ve already passed our TIF and you didn’t object when you had the opportunity,’ County Council Chairman Chris Bowers told Blondeau at the meeting. “That’s where my biggest heartburn is ..
. this feels like a blank check.” The first step is a housing study, Blondeau told County Council.
If the research comes back that fewer houses are needed or the area doesn’t have a need for this type of housing project, he said the city won’t issue bonds to move it forward..
