A - Town Council Meetings

MOUNT PLEASANT TOWN COUNCIL Special Council Meeting Monday, September 22, 2025, 9:30 AM Committee Meeting Room, 3rd Floor Mount Pleasant Municipal Complex 100 Ann Edwards Lane, Mount Pleasant, SC 29464 MINUTES Listen to the recording here. 1. Call to Order Mayor Will Haynie called the Special Town Council Meeting of the Mount Pleasant Town Council to order on Monday, September 22, 2025, at 9:30 AM. Councilmembers Brownstein, Hyatt, Chapman, Whitley, Rambo, Santos, Iacofano and Tinkey were all present. 2. Public Comment The Mayor opened the floor for public comment, allowing individuals to speak for two and a half minutes. Mr. Mike Van Horn of Iron Bridge Drive addressed the Council regarding Mount Pleasant's status as an All-American City. He emphasized the need for the town to be the gold standard among municipalities in the county. Mr. Van Horn advocated for making salaries the number one priority in the area, noting that pay incentive recommendations with specific educational backgrounds lagged behind in five of six categories. He recommended restoring the rollback for the millage rate, eliminating legal battles costing thousands monthly, and creating incentives for individuals living in Mount Pleasant. Kevin Cunnane discussed concerns about emergency services response times, noting that it took between 45 to 70 minutes for a fire chief to respond to a fatal fire in his neighborhood. He criticized the pay of first responders as insulting and showing a lack of respect. He argued that while the town manager's salary had increased substantially from $180,000 in 2018 to over $240,000 today, first responders still made less than fast food workers in many cases. He also mentioned that many first responders live in outlying areas such as Santee and Moncks Corner due to housing costs, and suggested reassigning fire department office chiefs to fire stations to improve service and potentially lease office space for revenue. 3. Action to establish a Millage Rate and Sales Tax Credit Factor Mayor Haynie introduced the agenda item, explaining that this was a required meeting that municipalities across the state were conducting regarding rollback, millage bank, and sales tax credit factors. Ms. Tammy Harness, Chief Financial Officer, presented information on property reassessment, which occurs every five years. The last reassessment was for tax year 2020, with the current one for tax year 2025. She explained that state law requires the millage rate to be rolled back for reassessed properties to generate the same revenue as the prior year, with new construction and growth not factored into the rollback calculation. GENERAL REASSESSMENT INFORMATION The last county-wide reassessment was for tax year 2020. Reassessment is done every five (5) years. During a reassessment year, the operating millage rate must be adjusted by dividing property taxes levied in the prior year by total assessed value without growth. This becomes the rollback millage. The rollback or reassessment millage rate for operations may be increased above the reassessment millage rate by the percentage of population growth and the consumer price index for the current year and the unused growth from the last three years. Debt service millage and associated tax revenue is excluded from the reassessment millage calculation. Page 2 of 8 Page 3 of 8 MILLAGE RATE OPTIONS Page 4 of 8 LOCAL OPTION SALES TAX (LOST) CREDIT FACTOR  The tax credit factor for local option sales tax (LOST) is determined each year by dividing the estimated LOST revenue by gross appraisal value.  The tax credit factor tends to decrease in reassessment years as the gross appraisal values are increased, while LOST revenues remain fairly consistent.  For tax year 2025, the calculated tax credit factor is 0.00037  This 0.00037 tax credit factor equates to a $259 credit on a $700,000 home, or a $37 credit for each $100,000 of appraised market value. Residential Tax Bill Calculations Page 5 of 8  Millage Rate Trending Ms. Harness noted that the state limits millage rate increases based on population growth and consumer price index, which this year is 3.06%, equating to an allowable increase of 1 mill. She explained that the state allows unused millage rate increases from the prior three years to be banked, with the town having a millage bank of 7.2 mills, as it has not increased its operating millage rate within that time frame. This means the total allowable millage rate increase is 8.2 mills. Ms. Harness further explained that rollback and millage increase limitations apply only to operating millage, while debt millage can Page 6 of 8 increase to cover debt service costs. For tax year 2025, reassessment property values increased by 10.4%, with new growth plus property transfers adding an additional 4.9%, for a total increase of 15.3% above tax year 2024. This equates to a 13.8% increase in property assessments, with 4% properties representing 59% and 6% properties representing 41% of the assessed total. She discussed the state limitation that caps reassessments at 15% for properties that have not transferred in the past five years via sale. Ms. Harness provided an example of how this cap works, using two homes initially valued at $600,000 with different appreciation rates but both being limited to the same 15% increase and tax payment. Ms. Harness noted that the town's current millage rate is 44.3 mills, comprised of 34.7 operating mills and 9.6 mills for debt service. The operating mills would be rolled back by 3.7 mills to 31 to generate the same revenue as last year, resulting in a total of 40.6 mills that would generate $59,459,400, aligning with the town's adopted budget. She presented three scenarios: ● The rollback rate of 40.6 mills would generate $59.4 million ● Maintaining the current rate of 44.3 mills would generate $64.7 million ● Using all 8.2 banked mills would result in 48.8 mills and generate $71.1 million Ms. Harness also explained the local option sales tax (LOST) credit factor, which needs to be established by Town Council. She noted that the town has an additional 1% local option sales tax, with revenue sent back partly as revenue to the town and partly as a credit on property tax bills. For this year, the tax credit factor is being reduced from 0.00045 to 0.00037, equating to a $259 credit on a $700,000 home. A discussion among Council members followed. Several members expressed support for investing in first responders and public safety personnel. Councilmember Brownstein noted concerns about Mount Pleasant having 1.7 police officers per thousand residents compared to Charleston's 2.8, and pointed out salary disparities with neighboring communities. Mayor Haynie suggested a more measured approach, advocating for adding 1 mill after the rollback and utilizing the existing budget surplus of approximately $3.5 million from the previous fiscal year to address compensation issues. He also proposed developing a housing assistance program for first responders. Page 7 of 8 Councilmember Chapman asked clarifying questions about millage changes needed to address the current budget, which Ms. Harness confirmed would be covered by the full rollback to 31 mills. He also inquired about past increases for first responders and additional personnel. Councilmember Rambo argued that the salary study recommendations were based on averages including areas outside Charleston with lower costs of living and did not go far enough. He pointed out that even with the proposed 1 mill increase, officers in Charleston would still make $6,500 more with a bachelor's degree than in Mount Pleasant. He also noted that national inflation from 2020 to 2025 was 25.8%, making the 13.8% assessment increase relatively modest. Councilmember Whitley moved to adopt a 34.7 operating millage rate and the Local Option Sales Tax credit factor as recommended by staff. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Rambo. Councilmembers Whitley, Rambo, Iacofano, Santos and Brownstein voted in favor with Councilmembers Hyatt, Chapman, Tinkey and Mayor Haynie voting opposed. The motion carried by a 5-4 vote. 4. Adjourn There being no further business, Mayor Haynie adjourned the meeting at 10:13 AM. Respectfully submitted, Christine Barrett Clerk of Council September 22, 2025 Page 8 of 8