True or False: "Act 388 put a hard cap on how much council can raise millage rates."
Answer: True
When the SC General Assembly passed Act 388 in 2006, the law limited how much a council can increase its millage rate each year. Millage rate increases cannot exceed the prior year's inflation rate plus the percentage increase in the city's population. Cities that have a negative population increase count it as zero in calculating its millage rate.
The South Carolina Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office released the FY 2019 Municipal Millage Caps calculation in May. This calculation is the growth in the consumer price index plus the growth in the population. The CPI for the FY 2019 Municipal Millage Cap calculation is 2.13 percent.
Municipal officials can find the annual millage cap rate increase limitations here.
The Municipal Elected Officials Institute of Government offers in-person and online courses. Elected officials who complete all of the required coursework graduate from the institute and are eligible to participate in the Advanced Institute. The next in-person courses, held February 6, will be MEO Sessions A and B. The next Advanced MEO Institute sessions also on February 6 will be "Advanced Municipal Economic Development" and "Public Safety Policy and Administration."