Property tax exemptions are beating up S.C.'s balance sheet

I know I'm a bit heavy on the politics side of the news today, but The Post and Courier really does have an excellent piece that sheds much light on why the financial crunch has been so bad in South Carolina.

I think this is all I need to show you to wet your appetite:

An $81 million shortfall in the sales tax collections that were supposed to fund property tax relief will account for about 15 percent of the gap anticipated in the next state budget. That means the state will have to cut spending elsewhere to pay for property tax breaks.

That was not supposed to happen.

Go read the article.

And, I'm very sorry, but since Gov. Sanford is giving his "State of the State" tonight (at 7) I'll also be putting up one more politics story today.

Thanks to The Indigo Journal for tipping us off.