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In most South Carolina counties -- including Charleston and Berkeley counties -- home taxes are "relieved" by an optional one percent sales tax.

Read more stories on this subject in our economy topic page.It's a system that's worked great when folks -- particularly tourists -- are buying lots of stuff. But when the economy heads south, so do sales tax collections, and that mean home taxes go up.

And The Post and Courier says that current conditions mean a home worth $250,000 could see its home tax rise by $42.

And the paper has done lots of good digging on the condition across the state and locally, go take a read.