South Carolina S 436: A SENATE RESOLUTION TO COMMEND THE NINETY SIX HIGH SCHOOL MARCHING BAND, DIRECTORS, AND SCHOOL OFFICIALS FOR LAUDABLE WORK AND TO CONGRATULATE THEM FOR WINNING THE 2016 SOUTH CAROLINA BAND DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION CLASS A STATE FINALS.

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 436 Text of Previous Version (May. 06, 2026) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 436

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

Indicates Matter Stricken

Indicates New Matter

Committee Report

May 6, 2026

S. 436

Introduced 
by Senators Grooms, Fernandez and Leber 

S. Printed 5/6/26--H.

Read the first time April 30, 2026

________

The committee on House Ways and 
Means

To whom was referred a Bill (S. 436) to amend 
the South Carolina Code of Laws by amending Section 12-37-220, relating to 
property tax exemptions, so as to add an exemption for a portion of the value, etc., 
respectfully

Report:

That they have duly and carefully considered 
the same, and recommend that the same do pass:

B.W. BANNISTER for Committee.

statement of estimated fiscal impact

Explanation of Fiscal Impact

State Expenditure

This bill creates an exemption for 36.8421 
percent of the fair market value of all aircraft of each airline company for 
the purposes of property taxes. The bill also changes the way time on the 
ground is determined for the purposes of calculating the ratio of time that an 
aircraft is in this state compared to total time in and out of state for the 
purposes of determining the value subject to property tax. The tax is 
administered and collected by DOR.

This bill will have a minimal impact for 
DOR to administer the changes as this can be accomplished with existing staff 
and resources. 

State Revenue

This bill exempts 36.8421 percent of the 
fair market value of all aircraft of each airline company for the purposes of 
property taxes. For reference, reducing the fair market value by 36.8421 
percent would have the same effect as reducing the assessment ratio from 9.5 
percent to 6 percent. The bill also changes the way time on the ground is 
determined for the purposes of calculating the ratio of time that an aircraft 
is in this state compared to total time in and out of state for the purposes of 
determining the value subject to property tax. 

Currently, all airline companies operating 
in the state must pay property taxes on aircraft operated in the state. These 
aircraft are assessed at 9.5 percent of the fair market value allocated to the 
state and taxed at the statewide average millage rate. The fair market value of 
the aircraft allocated to the state is based on the average of two ratios: 

The ratio which the total time scheduled on 
the ground within this state of such aircraft during the preceding calendar or 
fiscal year bears to the total time scheduled on the ground within and without 
this state of such aircraft during the preceding calendar or fiscal year.

The ratio which the total mileage scheduled 
within this state of such aircraft operated in this state during the preceding 
calendar or fiscal year bears to the total mileage scheduled within and without 
this state of such aircraft during the preceding calendar or fiscal year.

Beginning with FY 2022-23, total aircraft 
property taxes are distributed to the State Aviation Fund. The table below 
shows the recent history of collections and the estimated collections for FY 
2026-27. The estimate is based on historical growth in fair market value of 5.06percent 
and an expected statewide average millage rate of 357.2.

Aircraft Tax Revenue

 FY 
 2022-23

 FY 
 2023-24

 FY 
 2024-25*

 FY 
 2025-26 YTD*

 FY 
 2026-27 (estimate)

 State 
 Aviation Fund

 $6,473,620

 $6,660,807

 $6,870,479

 $8,070,906

 $8,035,000

*FY 2025-26 includes a delayed payment from 
FY 2024-25

Based on the figures above, exempting 
36.8421 percent of the fair market value of the aircraft of airline companies 
from property taxes is expected to reduce aircraft tax revenue by approximately 
$2,960,000 beginning in FY 2026-27. 

The bill also changes the calculation of 
the ratio for total time on the ground. The bill specifies that for determining 
time on the ground, each landing equals 30 minutes, and each overnight stay or 
maintenance day equals 2 hours. Currently, DOR reports that the ratio of time 
on the ground is computed to be approximately 0.0072122, and the ratio of total 
mileage is computed to be 0.0021662, for an average of 0.0046892. Assuming that 
it takes approximately 60 minutes on average to turnaround a plane, reducing 
the time for each landing to 30 minutes would reduce the time by 50 percent. 
Further, we assume that an overnight stay or maintenance day averages 
approximately 8 hours. Reducing an overnight stay from 8 hours to 2 hours would 
reduce this time by 75 percent. Based on these assumptions, we allocated 16 
hours per day, or 66.7 percent, to landings, and the remaining 33.3 percent to 
overnight stays. This change would reduce the time allocation on the ground to 
41.67 percent of the current allocation. Using this figure, the rat