The Plan
The countywide transportation sales tax has three defined priorities: roads, land and water protection, and transit. Some city voters will also see a separate municipal tax-relief question.
The countywide transportation sales tax
One cent is added to each dollar of eligible sales in Greenville County. The revenue is divided among the following uses.
Repair and improve more than 2,400 miles of county roads and city streets through paving, bridge work, safer intersections and drainage improvements.
Better road conditions also address congestion and the vehicle-repair costs caused by rough roads.
See the roads plan →$77 million for clean drinking water, working farms, parks and trails, wildlife habitat and natural flood control.
Less than 15% of Greenville County is currently protected.
See the land & water plan →Roughly $4.1 million a year to add Sunday service, move toward 30-minute frequency and connect more people with jobs, healthcare and shopping.
More useful transit can also mean fewer cars on the road.
See the transit plan →How the proposal is structured
The countywide question on the 2026 ballot is a transportation sales and use tax. Its structure differs from the capital-projects referendum considered in 2024.
The 2024 referendum used South Carolina’s capital-projects sales-tax framework and presented voters with a fixed list of projects and estimated costs.
The current question uses the state’s transportation sales-tax framework. Revenue is allocated among roads and transportation projects, land and water protection, and transit.
If approved, collections continue for up to eight years or until they reach $1.1 billion, whichever occurs first.
Who pays
The penny applies to eligible purchases made in Greenville County—not only purchases made by county residents.
Visitors and commuters who shop, dine or stay here contribute when they make taxable purchases. That helps spread the cost of roads and public assets used by residents and visitors alike. Exempt purchases remain exempt.
County and city questions
Every Greenville County voter will decide the countywide question. It funds the defined roads, land and water, and transit investments shown above.
The county question does not raise property-tax rates, but it does not include the property-tax-credit requirement created for municipal questions.
Voters in Greenville, Mauldin, Simpsonville and Travelers Rest will also decide a separate city question for neighborhood streets, sidewalks and other specified infrastructure.
If approved, each city’s additional 1% sales tax may run for up to eight years. State law requires at least 20% of the revenue to provide property-tax credits for owner-occupied homes inside that city.
The municipal questions focus on neighborhood streets, sidewalks, specified city infrastructure and property-tax relief. The countywide question addresses the larger network of roads and transportation needs, land and water protection, and transit. For voters in the four participating cities, the two questions are separate votes with separate uses—and together cover both local and countywide needs.
Eligible purchases inside one of the four cities would include both additional pennies if both measures pass.
What you need to know
Gas, utilities, rent, mortgages, most groceries, unprepared food and prescriptions are not subject to the additional penny.
All spending is subject to public disclosure, and a transparency committee reviews how the money is used.
An independent annual audit shows where every penny went.
The county revenue is committed to its transportation plan. Municipal revenue must fund specified capital projects and the required property-tax relief.
Quick answers
Every Greenville County voter will decide the countywide transportation sales-tax question. Voters in Greenville, Mauldin, Simpsonville and Travelers Rest will also decide a separate municipal question.
For every county voter
Yes. It is a countywide one-percent transportation sales and use tax. The plan allocates 90% to roads, 7% to land and water protection, and 3% to transit.
One cent is added for each dollar spent on eligible purchases. Purchases that are exempt from the tax do not receive the additional charge.
Yes. The tax applies to eligible purchases made in Greenville County, whether the buyer lives here or is visiting. Visitors and commuters therefore help fund the roads and public assets they use.
No. It is a sales tax, not a property-tax increase. The county measure does not, however, include the municipal property-tax-credit provision described below.
Greenville County has more local road miles than any county in South Carolina and no dedicated funding stream to repair county roads. The plan directs the large majority of funding to that need.
The investment supports Sunday service, more frequent buses—moving toward every 30 minutes—and routes that better connect workers, seniors and students with jobs, healthcare and shopping.
It helps protect drinking-water sources, keep farms working, preserve parks and trails, maintain wildlife habitat and provide natural flood control along the Reedy, Saluda, Enoree and Tyger.
Spending is publicly disclosed, reviewed by a transparency committee and examined through an independent audit every year.
For voters in four cities
Voters who live in Greenville, Mauldin, Simpsonville or Travelers Rest will see their city’s municipal tax-relief question in addition to the countywide question.
Each city’s question identifies local capital needs such as neighborhood streets, sidewalks and other specified infrastructure. At least 20% of municipal revenue must also provide property-tax credits for eligible owner-occupied homes in that city.
No. At least 20% of an approved municipal tax’s revenue is reserved for credits on municipal property taxes for owner-occupied homes. That money is divided proportionally among eligible property owners, so the credit is not a guaranteed 20% reduction in an individual bill.
The state law applies the credit to owner-occupied homes located within a municipality whose voters approve the municipal tax-relief question.
How they work together
The countywide and municipal measures address different levels of infrastructure. The city question focuses on needs within that municipality, while the county question covers countywide transportation, land and water, and transit priorities.
Each penny keeps its own defined purpose. Together, the municipal and countywide plans address neighborhood and city infrastructure alongside the broader roads, green spaces and transportation systems used across Greenville County. Eligible purchases made inside that city would include both additional pennies.
Vote YES