Plans for tax hike to go towards renovations put on hold

The prospect of taxpayer backlash has Bon Secours Wellness Arena officials back-pedaling the plan to float a seventy million dollar bond issue for renovations.

The Post and Courier reports the proposed 150-million dollar makeover is still under consideration. It would add about fourteen dollars a year for the next twenty years to the tax bill on a 200-thousand dollar house in the ArenaTax District, which covers much of central Greenville County.

The Well's managers blinked at the likely negative reaction to still another tax increase since last year' county council approval of the first general revenue tax hike in thirty years. Along with, year's decision to place a referendum on the November ballot asking voters to agree to a one percent sales tax to renovate the county's crumbing roads.

For now, the Bon Secours Arena's bond request is on hold, but the managers warn aging and outdated facilities risk the loss of such events as the SEC Women's Basketball Tournament, an annual sixteen million dollar boost for the downtown economy.