Transportation Project Funding

There are various sources of funding for transportation projects.  Click here for an overview.  The funding sources include

• CHATS:  Charleston Area Transportation Study
• CTC:  Charleston County Transportation Committee, aka "C" funds
• Federal Guideshare
• STIB:  SC Transportation Infrastructure Bank
• TST:  Transportation Sales Tax, which includes the 2016 Half-Cent Sales Tax (see below)

Charleston County utilizes two funding sources for pavement management. 

• “C Funds” which are dollars generated by the State’s 16.8 cents/gallon gasoline tax (2.66 cents of which is obligated for C Funds) and allocated specifically for road resurfacing projects. SCDOT obligates “C” funds to the Charleston County Transportation Committee (CTC) each year and historically the CTC allocates between $3 and $3.5 million per year for resurfacing.

• The County’s Transportation Sales Tax (TST) Program in which $4 million per year is allocated for resurfacing contracts, with half of that being performed on state-owned roads selected by the SCDOT.  This is part of an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) between Charleston County and the SCDOT that was developed at the conception of the program. 

Charleston County has had two sales tax referendums, one in 2004 and one in 2016.  You can read the history of these tax referendums here.

 The 2016 Charleston County half-cent sales tax referendum question was:

"I approve a special sales and use tax in the amount of one-half (1/2) of one percent to be imposed in Charleston County for not more than twenty-five (25) years, or until a total of $2,100,000,000  in resulting revenue has been collected, whichever occurs first. The sales tax proceeds will be used to fund the following projects: 

Project (1)   For financing the costs of highways, roads, streets, bridges, and other transportation-related projects facilities, and drainage facilities related thereto, and mass transit systems operated by Charleston County or jointly operated by the County and other governmental entities. $1,890,000,000.  

Project (2)   For financing the costs of greenbelts. $210,000,000.  

          Yes _____

          No _____"

In the 2016 Charleston County half-cent sales tax the ordinance stated the projects "may include, but [are] not limited to ... US 17 at Main Road flyover and widening Main Road from Bees Ferry to Betsy Kerrison with Parkway type section at Bohicket“.

According to the County Council's approval sheet for the Main Road Corridor project the purpose of the project is “to provide a more efficient access point on and off Johns Island by improving the intersection at US 17 and Main Road.  This project will also include improvements to Main Road by widening from Bees Ferry Road to Betsy Kerrison Parkway.”