This year’s budget contains language allowing for taxpayers to receive a tax credit matching a contribution to a Scholarship Granting Organization (SGO’s). These SGO’s will offer scholarships to special needs children for up to $10,000 per year. The credit is capped at 60% of their tax liability. The tax credits are capped at $8 million.

Our friends at South Carolinians for Responsible Government will host a meeting to interested education providers in Columbia. Hope you can join us!

WHO: You or a representative from your school
WHAT: Meeting to explain details of new tax credit programs
WHEN: 10 am – 12 noon on Wednesday, July 31st
WHERE: Ground floor meeting room of 1301 Gervais Street, Columbia SC
WHY: Tax credits can benefit students and teachers at your school!

Important dates to remember:
2013.07.31 @ 10:00 am School Choice Scholarship Granting Organizational information meeting
2013.08.21 @ 10:30 am S. 279 School Choice Legislation Senate Finance Sub Committee Public Hearing

Local media accompanied a customer in our store last week. The customer asked for his discount on his sales tax. SC Code – 12-36-2646 states that Individuals 85 years old and older get a 1 cent sales tax break on purchases. A newly hired Customer Service Representative was not aware of this policy, but another CSR was able to make the clarification. Also, there is a requirement that retailers post a notification of this tax break. We weren’t aware of the posting requirement, but its up now.

SECTION 12-36-2646. Retailers to post notice of tax exclusion available to individuals 85 years of age or over; penalties.

(A) Retailers shall post a sign at each entrance or each cash register which advises individuals eighty-five years of age or older of the one percent exclusion from tax available under Sections 12-36-2620, 12-36-2630, and 12-36-2640.

(B) A retailer who fails to post the required signs is subject to a penalty of up to one hundred dollars for each month or portion of the month the sign or signs are not posted. Continued failure to post the signs after a written warning from the Department of Revenue may result in revocation of the retailer’s retail license in accordance with Section 12-54-90. Failure to post the signs does not give rise to a cause of action by an individual eighty-five years of age or older who failed to request the exclusion and provide proof of age at the time of sale.

HISTORY: 2001 Act No. 89, Section 50(D), eff August 15, 2001.

This is a classic example of free market, free press, and free speech working together to enforce a statute, however, it took 12 years.
Click Here to read the article.

Corps issues revised water declaration July 15; outflows increase at all 3 dams
Posted on July 15, 2013 by US Army Corps of Engineers Savannah District
By Tracy Robillard, Public Affairs Specialist.
Water managers with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Savannah District issued a revised declaration calling for increased outflows from all three Savannah River dams on July 15, 2013.
The revised declaration increases outflows at the Thurmond Dam from 33,200 cfs to 35,565 cfs through this week. Outflows from the Russell Dam will increase from 13,000 cfs to 16,000 cfs; and outflows at the Hartwell Dam will increase from 6,800 cfs to 15,000 cfs.
The main purpose of increasing outflows is to evacuate water occupying the flood storage levels in the reservoirs and to bring them back to guide curve, or “full pool” in accordance with our water control manual. Our standard operating procedure requires us to evacuate flood storage at Thurmond first, then Russell, then Hartwell last.
Depending on the amount of rainfall we receive, it could take anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months to reach guide curve at all three reservoirs. The soil remains saturated, so rain events are yielding higher volumes of runoff than normal.
During this period of high water, we will likely issue more than one declaration per week. Please continue to check Balancing the Basin for the most recent updates.

Click here to view the revised declaration 07/15/2013

Click here to view revised 10-week projection 07/15/2013

2014 Camp Hope Teen 2 “Outback” from Camp Hope on Vimeo.