Lexington OKs meal tax for road fixes

The cost of dining out is going up in the town of Lexington to ease traffic congestion.

Town Council approved a meal tax of 2 pennies on the dollar Tuesday after a last-minute blitz by anti-tax forces failed to make it unappetizing politically.

Adoption of the tax to pay for three major road improvements “is about being progressive and moving our town forward,” Councilman Todd Carnes said.

Collection of the tax starts Oct. 1 and ends Dec. 31, 2023. It could be renewed for other projects.

The tax applies to restaurant dining, take-out food and some snacks but not groceries.

It is estimated to generate $2 million a year initially, with revenue used to:

▪ Add a traffic circle on Corley Mill Road and a side lane off it near U.S. 378 and I-20.

▪ Install a traffic circle at S.C. 6 and U.S. 378, with new routes into Lexington Middle School.

▪ Make parts of S.C. 6 and Church Street one-way.

Those projects will cost $13.6 million and take four years to finish, officials estimate. Paying for them will take longer as costs would be spread out.

The tax is unusual in Lexington County – only Cayce has it – but in use for some time in nearby Columbia and Richland County.

Anti-tax forces attacked the plan as a misguided effort that will do little to ease road bottlenecks.

The projects picked are “throwing money into the wind,” homeowner Willis Jordan said.

Other foes said Town Hall is too ambitious in tackling road repairs.

“People are just tired of taxes,” resident David Hutchens said. “We’ve got runaway government growth.”

But other homeowners said the plan seems the best fix to alleviate congestion in the rapidly growing community that is a crossroads for three main commuter routes.

“Nobody wants to pay a tax, but I am for a solution,” Charles Speight said.

Lexington is a town of 20,000 residents with traffic that’s the equivalent of a population of 130,000, officials say

Town leaders pledge to end the tax sooner if aid for the projects from another source becomes available, a prospect some tax supporters say is unlikely.

Declining federal and state aid for roads is “inaction that forced your hand,” former mayor Randy Halfacre, now president of the Greater Lexington Chamber of Commerce, told council members.

Developers lined up in favor of the tax as the only path for road improvements soon.

“We realize how limited your options are,” Earl McLeod, executive director of the Building Industry Association of Central South Carolina, told council members.

Some tax opponents complained traffic circles will confuse motorists and increase delays.

Transportation experts say the circles move vehicles better than traditional intersections with signals, but the concept will be reviewed before put into use, officials said.

“There’s no way we will put anything on the road that will not work,” Carnes said.

The projects will be on top of a network of traffic signals being installed that town officials say also will let traffic flow better.

Council members approved the tax 5-1, with Ted Stambolitis opposed and Kathy Maness absent.