Richland County may drop these road projects from the penny tax program
Richland County could find millions in penny tax savings by removing some projects from its road improvements program.
Ahead of a special meeting of Richland County Council on Tuesday to discuss the finances of the $1 billion program, the county transportation program is recommending a cash flow plan that would drop two planned road improvements from the program.
One project that could be axed is improvement of Commerce Drive near the Hamilton-Owens Airport in Columbia’s Rosewood neighborhood. The other is work on Kelly Mill Road near Lake Carolina in northeast Richland County.
Dropping the two projects would save the county an estimated $9.5 million, according to “cash flow plan assumptions” the transportation program released ahead of Tuesday’s meeting. Work on Commerce Drive is expected to cost $5 million, while Kelly Mill Road is budgeted at $4.5 million. Construction has not yet begun on either project.
Members of Richland County Council will be reviewing proposals this week. Asked about the proposal by The State, Richland County Councilwoman Joyce Dickerson said she was unfamiliar with the Kelly Mill Road project in her district, “but if it’s important, it won’t be dropped,” Dickerson said.
Councilwoman Allison Terracio said she was unfamiliar with the proposed Commerce Drive improvements in her district, and Carol Nesmith, manager of the nearby City Roots urban farm, was also unaware Commerce Drive was slated for improvements.
Terracio said that while residents are often eager to discuss penny projects in her downtown district, Commerce Drive hasn’t been one that’s gotten a lot of voter attention.
“The things people care about, I’ve definitely heard about,” Terracio said.
Other recommendations are to reduce spending on sidewalks and bicycle paths by $5 million each. The county would also reimburse the penny program for $3 million spent on public relations and another $1 million spent on a small business program, both of which the S.C. Supreme Court has ruled were “suspect expenditures” for a tax approved by voters in 2012 to improve the county’s roads.
In all, the cuts could save the county $18.5 million, out of an expected $154 million shortfall in the program caused by rising construction costs.
The proposed plan drawn up by the transportation program will also modify four of 14 road widening projects, according to documents provided to the council.
Other savings highlighted in the document include $52.2 million from improvements to the “Malfunction Junction” interchange of Interstates 20 and 26 — The S.C. Department of Transportation will complete that work — and $30 million in planned contingency spending. The program also predicts the sales tax will collect the full $1 billion six or seven years early. Initial estimates projected the full tax would be projected by 2035.
Based on estimated costs for completing all outstanding penny projects as of the first quarter of 2019, the cost increase puts the program roughly 15% above what the 22-year penny tax is expected to raise. It’s also $50 million more than the estimated cost overrun highlighted by former County Administrator Gerald Seals in a 2017 memo entitled “Returning the penny to health.”
It’s unclear where the savings from the sidewalk and bicycle path projects will come from. Only three greenways have not yet begun, according to Richland County documents — a connector between Polo Road and Windsor Lake Boulevard near Sesquicentennial Park; one between Woodbury Drive and Old Leesburg Road; and a Dutchman Boulevard connector in Irmo. Those total $607,000, out of a combined $41 million for sidewalk and bicycle path projects.
Elsewhere, the council report notes that 99 dirt roads out of 270 slated for improvement are currently “indefinitely delayed.”
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