Taxes

Changes in how property taxes are calculated have made it extremely affordable for homeowners to live and pay taxes in York County. All homeowners now receive a discounted tax rate for their personal residence and no longer have to pay the school tax as part of their property tax. This makes property taxes extremely low for residents. And if you qualify for the Homestead Exemption, your taxes are reduced even further!

Homeowner's 4% Tax Rate

If you own your personal residence, here's how you would calculate your annual property taxes:

  1. Take the tax value of your home (tax value will be your purchase price in most cases) and
  2. Multiply the tax value by 4% (0.04), and
  3. Multiple this new value by the millage rate for your area.
As an example for a home in Lauren Pines, a home with a purchase price of $300,000 would pay the following taxes each year (using millage rates from a previous year):

$300,000 x 4% x 0.153 = $1,836

That's about half (or less) of what you might expect to pay for the same house in North Carolina!

The formula above can be used each year for estimating your taxes. The millage rate is adjusted from year to year but at present, the tax value of your home will remain the same as your purchase price.

Homestead Exemption

South Carolina offers a wonderful tax reduction program called The Homestead Exemption (for details please visit the York County website and search "homestead exemption.)  The program exempts the first $50,000 in fair market value of your primary residence from all property taxes. If your primary residence is valued at $50,000 or less, it is exempt from all property taxes.

How do you qualify?

  1. Hold complete fee simple title or life estate to your primary residence.
  2. As of December 31, preceding the tax year of the exemption, be a legal resident of South Carolina for one year.
  3. As of December 31, preceding the tax year of the exemption, be
    • 65 years of age, or
    • declared totally and permanently disabled by a state or federal agency having the authority to make such a declaration, or
    • legally blind as certified by a licensed opthamologist.

If statements 1, 2, and 3 are true, you are qualified to receive the Homestead Exemption. If you are the surviving spouse of a person who was qualified, you may also be qualified to receive the benefit. Please contact the York County Auditor's Office for further information.