A series of public meetings on Greenville County’s proposed penny sales tax kick off Tuesday and will run through late October.
Greenville County’s penny tax plan is an expanded version of one that fell just short of passing in 2024. This one looks to take an extra one percent from certain purchases in the county and spread it across not just roads, but greenways and public transit.
Nineteen total are scheduled at libraries and community centers across the county.
- Sept. 15: Slater Hall Community Center, noon
- Sept. 21: Travelers Rest Library, noon
- Sept. 22: Brutontown Community Center, 10 a.m.
- Sept. 23: Sterling Community Center, 6:30 p.m.
- Sept. 24: Taylors Library, 6 p.m.
- Sept. 28: Blue Ridge Library, 6 p.m.
- Sept. 29: Travelers Rest Library, noon
- Sept. 29: Freetown Community Center, 6:30 p.m.
- Sept. 30: Berea Library, 6 p.m.
- Oct. 6: Fountain Inn Library, noon
- Oct. 6: Pelham Road Library, 6 p.m.
- Oct. 7: Hughes Main Library, 6 p.m.
- Oct. 8: Travelers Rest Library, 6 p.m.
- Oct. 12: Fountain Inn Library, 10 a.m.
- Oct. 12: Augusta Road Library, 6 p.m.
- Oct. 13: Five Forks Library, 6 p.m.
- Oct. 14: Anderson Road Library, noon
- Oct. 14: Simpsonville Library, 6 p.m.
- Oct. 21: Mauldin Library, 6 p.m.
There are three stops in Traveler’s Rest and one each in Mauldin and Simpsonville. Those three cities are also putting their own, separate penny tax proposals on their municipal ballots in November.
Additionally, a penny tax proposal will be on the ballot for voters in Union County. Unlike the ones on tap for voters around Greenville, Union County’s proposal has nothing to do with public infrastructure. Instead, it would fund approved projects in eight public schools in the county district.
While proponents tout the public benefits of a sales tax, critics have cited that developers should foot more of the bill for upgrading infrastructure in the fast-growing Upstate.