Anderson County voters rejected the proposed Anderson County penny tax on November 4, 2025, with roughly 79 percent voting no. The one percent Capital Project Sales Tax would have added a cent to most taxable purchases in the county for up to seven years and raised an estimated $366 million for road, bridge, and drainage work.1South Carolina Election Commission. Anderson County Transportation Sales Tax Because the measure failed, the county’s combined sales tax rate stays at seven percent, and nothing you buy in Anderson County costs more because of this proposal.
The final count was 18,370 against and 4,920 in favor. State law still permits the county governing body to form a new commission, build a new project list, and put a revised question on a future November ballot, so the idea is paused rather than permanently off the table.
What the Penny Would Have Added to Your Purchases
Anderson County’s current combined sales tax rate is seven percent: six percent state tax plus a one percent local option tax already in place.2South Carolina Department of Revenue. Sales and Use Tax Index Had the Capital Project Sales Tax passed, the rate on most taxable purchases inside the county would have risen to eight percent. Businesses would have collected the extra penny at the register and sent it to the South Carolina Department of Revenue, which disburses funds back to the county quarterly for the approved projects.3Anderson County South Carolina. Capital Projects Sales Tax Commission
Online purchases shipped to Anderson County addresses would also have been subject to the extra penny. South Carolina requires remote sellers registered for sales and use tax to collect all applicable local taxes and remit them with their state return.4South Carolina Department of Revenue. Remote Sellers
What Would Have Been Exempt
Several big-ticket categories sit outside the Capital Project Sales Tax, which is why advocates often describe the hit to household budgets as small.
- Unprepared groceries eligible for purchase with USDA food benefits are exempt from the Capital Project Sales Tax, so your weekly grocery bill would not have changed. Prepared food from restaurants and delis stays taxable.5South Carolina Department of Revenue. Local Sales Taxes
- Prescription drugs and certain medical supplies are exempt from South Carolina sales tax under Section 12-36-2120(28), and that exemption carries over to the penny tax.6South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 12-36-2120 – Exemptions from Sales Tax
- Gasoline is covered by a separate motor fuel user fee, not retail sales tax, so the penny would not have shown up at the pump.3Anderson County South Carolina. Capital Projects Sales Tax Commission
Vehicle purchases also follow a different track. Cars, trucks, motorcycles, and trailers pulled by truck tractors are not subject to the general sales tax at retail. Buyers pay an Infrastructure Maintenance Fee directly to the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles, outside the penny tax entirely. Boats, aircraft, and recreational vehicles fall under the state’s “max tax” rules, capped at five percent, and ATVs, golf carts, and similar vehicles are capped at $500.7South Carolina Department of Revenue. Maximum Tax (Max Tax)
How Long It Would Have Lasted
The Capital Project Sales Tax is always temporary. State law requires the ballot question to set a maximum collection period in two-year increments, with an eight-year ceiling.8South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code of Laws Title 4 Chapter 10 – Section 4-10-330 Anderson County’s 2025 proposal set the limit at seven years. The tax also ends early if collections hit the authorized total before the clock runs out, so the penny cannot keep running after the approved projects are funded.
The authorizing statute, the Capital Project Sales Tax Act in Title 4, Chapter 10, Article 3 of the state code, lets a county governing body impose a one percent sales and use tax for a limited time, but only after voter approval, and only for specific capital projects listed on the ballot. Eligible categories include highways, roads, bridges, courthouses, water and sewer infrastructure, flood control, libraries, and recreational facilities, among others.8South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code of Laws Title 4 Chapter 10 – Section 4-10-330 Anderson County’s 2025 version was almost entirely about transportation.
What the $366 Million Was Supposed to Fix
The ballot question asked voters to approve $366 million for improvements to highways, paved and unpaved roads, streets, intersections, bridges, and related drainage systems across the county. The project list drew heavily from the Anderson County Road Study completed in August 2024, which graded pavement condition, bridge integrity, road classification, and accident history district by district.1South Carolina Election Commission. Anderson County Transportation Sales Tax
Specific needs identified in that study included bridge reconstructions ranging from about $1.2 million for the Durham Road span over Hurricane Creek to over $3 million for the Smith Road bridge over Beaverdam Creek. Safety work included realigning dangerous curves on Simpson Road, adding turn lanes at the SC 8 and Palmetto Road intersection, and addressing high-crash locations like the Crestview intersection, where 11 of 16 recorded crashes involved failure-to-yield collisions.9Anderson County South Carolina. Anderson County Road Study With the referendum defeated, those projects remain on the study’s list without a dedicated funding source attached.
Can the Penny Tax Come Back?
Yes. South Carolina law allows the county governing body to adopt a new ordinance, appoint a new Capital Project Sales Tax Commission, run a fresh public input process, and put a revised question on a future November ballot. Counties elsewhere in the state have brought penny tax proposals back more than once before voters approved them, sometimes with a trimmed project list or a shorter collection period.
For now, Anderson County’s sales tax rate is unchanged, the Capital Project Sales Tax is not in effect, and the infrastructure needs catalogued in the 2024 Road Study are still waiting on a funding decision from the county. If the question returns to the ballot, the mechanics described above (the one-cent rate, the grocery and prescription exemptions, the two-year increments up to eight years, the DOR collection process) are set by state statute and would apply to any new version in substantially the same form.