South Carolina § 6-1-330 - Local fee imposition limitations.

§ 6-1-330. Local fee imposition limitations.

(A) A local governing body, by ordinance approved by a positive majority, is authorized to charge and collect a service or user fee. A local governing body must provide public notice of any new service or user fee being considered and the governing body is required to hold a public hearing on any proposed new service or user fee prior to final adoption of any new service or user fee. Public comment must be received by the governing body prior to the final reading of the ordinance to adopt a new service or user fee. A fee adopted or imposed by a local governing body prior to December 31, 1996, remains in force and effect until repealed by the enacting local governing body, notwithstanding the provisions of this article.

(B) The revenue derived from a service or user fee imposed to finance the provision of public services must be used to pay costs related to the provision of the service or program for which the fee was paid. If the revenue generated by a fee is five percent or more of the imposing entity's prior fiscal year's total budget, the proceeds of the fee must be kept in a separate and segregated fund from the general fund of the imposing governmental entity.

(C) If a governmental entity proposes to adopt a service or user fee to fund a service that was previously funded by property tax revenue, the notice required pursuant to Section 6-1-80 must include that fact in the text of the published notice.

(D) The governing body of a county may not impose a fee on agricultural lands, forestlands, or undeveloped lands for a stormwater, sediment, or erosion control program unless Chapter 14, Title 48 allows for the imposition of this fee on these lands; provided, that any county which imposes such a fee on these lands on the effective date of this subsection may continue to impose that fee under its same terms, conditions, and amounts.

(E) A local governing body that repealed a road maintenance fee after June 30, 2021, and subsequently approved a millage increase for road maintenance, must repeal the millage imposed to replace the previous road maintenance fee before reimposing the road maintenance fee.

(F) A local governing body that imposes a user or service fee pursuant to Section 6-1-300(6) must publish the amount of dollars annually collected on each fee on the county's website.

HISTORY: 1997 Act No. 138, SECTION 7; 2009 Act No. 75, SECTION 2, eff June 16, 2009; 2022 Act No. 236 (S.233), SECTIONS 2.B, 2.C, eff June 22, 2022.

Editor's Note

2022 Act No. 236, SECTION 2.E, provides as follows:

"[SECTION 2.]E. This SECTION takes effect upon approval by the Governor and applies retroactively to any service or fee imposed after December 31, 1996."

Effect of Amendment

The 2009 amendment added subsection (D) relating to imposition of stormwater, sediment, or erosion control fees on agricultural, forest, or undeveloped lands.

2022 Act No. 236, SECTION 2.B, in (A), in the fourth sentence, substituted "article" for "section".

2022 Act No. 236, SECTION 2.C, added (E) and (F).