Proposed bill would cost taxpayers dearly
The South Carolina Legislature has proposed a bill that has angered a large portion of residents likely to receive an increase in their property taxes in order to privatize the school bus system.
If passed, the bill would require school systems to fork out millions, which would in turn be handed to the taxpayers.
The bill would require the state’s school districts to operate their own school bus systems or contract those operations out to private companies.
Gov. Nikki Haley is in favor of privatizing the bus system, which was included in her executive budget. According to The State, “She is in ‘broad stroke’ agreement with (state Rep. Jim) Merrill’s bill but has not been involved in working on its details.”
Some school districts, however, have done the math and have concluded that the budget is just not there for a privatized bus system to be enacted.
With the ever-increasing cost of vehicles and fuel, privatizing school bus systems in South Carolina would seem to be a difficult feat for school districts, which already receive meager funding from the state.
The privatization’s effects would be felt not only by the South Carolina school districts, but taxpayers as well. The amount of property taxes residents are already paying is exorbitant, and the economy has been, and will likely remain, impecunious.
The burden privatization will have will be detrimental to many families who are already having difficulty choosing between whether to fill up their gas tanks or put food on the table.