“Let’s hope the third time’s the charm.”

That’s how Jim Ewart, chair of Lexington County’s Capital Project Sales Tax Commission, closed out the body’s June 3 meeting, during which it finalized a revised resolution for a penny sales tax for road improvements. 

After County Council rejected the commission’s recommendation and sent it back for reconsideration by unanimous vote on May 24, the commission met twice last week, removing from its prioritized list all but a handful of the projects that include sidewalk and drainage components.

It remains to be seen if removing these projects, which members of council spotlighted as a key reason they voted it down, will lead the resolution to the November ballot after two previous failed attempts to get a transportation sales tax in front of voters in 2016 and 2020. A penny tax for road improvements did reach the ballot in 2014, but the public voted it down.

If the new eight-year tax projected to raise $536 million passes council, it would similarly have to be approved by voters.

The commission voted 5-1 on May 31 to nix any project from its previous list of more than 130 penny tax projects that isn’t paving-related. Council will consider the revised resolution and project list at its June 7 meeting.

Joe Dever of Chapin cast the dissenting vote after voicing concerns over reconvening at the “11th hour” to quickly recalibrate the list the commission has been working on since its formation at the behest of council in November.

Council gave the commission until June 3 to submit a revised recommendation.

“As we start to rank and pull out some of these projects, we are moving up other technically paving projects that are in subdivisions with dead-ends,” Dever said. “That's not to me a transportation project for why we want to support the penny tax. ... It doesn’t impact traffic for people’s general travel patterns each day.”

Some drainage projects that are directly tied to road improvements remain — such as a drainage study for a sag in a roadway in Gaston, a widening and storm drainage project for Columbia Avenue in Irmo, storm drainage improvements on Dreher Road and drainage improvements in West Columbia.

After listening to opening discussion on May 31, Ewart noted that most of the commission seemed to favor recasting the resolution and list such that they might be approved by council — not changing its recommendation and sending it back to council for a final decision was also an option. 

But the chair reiterated previously voiced frustration that opposition to drainage and sidewalk projects wasn’t made clear earlier in the process.

“I'm disappointed that it was rejected,” he said on May 31 of the commission’s initial recommendation. “I felt like with only 8% of the total going to non-roadway projects that it would be acceptable to county, but it isn't.”

Ewart also voiced opposition to reducing the term of the tax — county attorney Jeff Anderson told the commission on May 31 there was interest from council in seeing it lowered.

“I feel strongly that it's a one-time opportunity and that we ought to go for the eight years,” the chair said.