That is a structural problem, and the education penny is one of our solutions. Some people will say developers should simply pay for the schools that growth requires. It is an attractive soundbite, but it’s just lip service.

Developers should contribute as the law allows, but development fees are episodic. School infrastructure obligations are permanent.

A one-time fee on development also doesn’t maintain a high school for the next 50 years. It doesn’t replace the roof 25 years from now. It doesn’t replace buses year after year. It doesn’t modernize an aging middle school. And it doesn’t provide a recurring source of capital funding at anything approaching the scale of the problem.

Growth has an ongoing infrastructure cost. The funding mechanism has to be broad enough and durable enough to match it. The proposed penny does that far better than simply pushing more of the burden onto local property owners.

If Dorchester County has hundreds of millions of dollars of legitimate school capital needs, I would much rather raise that money through a broad sales tax base that captures spending from residents, commuters and visitors than continually return to the same property owners.

Having others contribute is a better return for the Dorchester County taxpayer.

The tax would apply to eligible retail purchases, but several major necessities are exempt, including unprepared groceries, prescription medication, gasoline, residential electricity and heating fuel. Cars, trucks, boats and RVs are also not subject to this local penny.

And this money cannot simply disappear into a general operating budget. By law, it is limited to capital improvements.

DD2’s ballot list includes new school capacity in growing areas, major renovations at Summerville, Fort Dorchester and Ashley Ridge high schools, work at Alston, DuBose and Gregg middle schools, roof repairs and replacements, HVAC equipment, buses including special-education buses, playgrounds, flooring, lighting, maintenance and technology.