South Carolina Justices Doubt Hilton Head’s Unlawful Tax Claim

The South Carolina Supreme Court during oral arguments Tuesday appeared unconvinced that Beaufort County’s law enforcement service charge on Hilton Head property owners is a tax rather than a user fee.

South Carolina law says that a charge is a user fee instead of a tax when the “fee is a charge for a particular benefit to the payer.” Representing the town of Hilton Head, S.C., Curtis Lee Coltrane of Coltrane & Wilkins LLC asked the justices to find the county’s service charge isn’t a user fee because the county’s law enforcement services are uniform and not a special benefit ...