The Town of Lexington made its appointment to the Penny Sales Tax Commission during the June 2 meeting. Council unanimously appointed Edwin Gerace.

Decision time for the penny tax likely would not take place until 2026, according to earlier reporting from the Chronicle, and if voters approve it, the Capital Project Sales Tax (CPST) would impose a 1% sales tax on most purchases made by anyone in Lexington County, except on items such as groceries, gasoline and prescriptions.

This money would go toward things like repaving, resurfacing, stormwater drainage, intersection improvement, dirt road paving and bridge repair, according to the county’s website.

A penny tax approval could be less burdensome on Lexington County locals, since the 1% sales tax would be imposed on anyone making purchases (excluding groceries, gasoline and prescriptions) in Lexington County whether they are residents or not, whereas a hike in millage, a possible alternative to funding infrastructure improvements, would fall solely on residents paying property taxes. That’s why county council decided against a road maintenance fee; a road maintenance fee would solely fall on Lexington County residents.

Lexington County Administrator Lynn Sturkie said in April that without additional taxes, the county does not have the means to fund all of the road maintenance that is needed.

More specifically, Sturkie said that the county has 38 departments to fund, and five of those departments—fire, law, EMS, 9-1-1 and public works—make up 72% of the budget.

There are over 2,800 miles of publicly maintained roads in the county. 1,555 miles of those are state-maintained, while 1,298 miles of those are county-maintained. And the town of Lexington maintains some of its own roads, too. 700.13 miles of the roads in the county are paved, while 598.23 miles of them are dirt.

According to a county roads pavement condition survey, 62% of county-maintained paved roads are considered good; 33% are considered fair; 6%, or 171 roads, are considered poor or failed.

Sturkie said that at current funding levels, it would take eight years to repave every county road that is considered poor and predicted that the number of county roads that are considered poor will grow from 171 to at least 460 within the next seven years.

So that’s why county leaders say that the penny tax could help expedite road maintenance in a way that does not solely burden residents.

The Lexington County penny sales tax commission is the group that puts together a list of projects the penny would serve if voters approve the penny next time it’s a referendum on the ballot.

It’s a six-person commission; three are appointed by Lexington County Council, one is appointed by the Town of Lexington due to its Census statistics, and then those four will appoint the remaining two commissioners.

The town’s appointee, Edwin Gerace, was on the town’s Small Business Advisory Committee, but will not serve on that committee while on the Penny Sales Tax Commission. The plan is to rejoin the Small Business Advisory Committee after the Penny Sales Tax Commission’s work is done.