*** CORRECTION *** Mark Clark Extension (526)

December 5, 2023, will be an important date for Johns Island.

On that day the State Infrastructure Bank will request that the Joint Bond Review Committee release $75M in funds for the proposed Mark Clark Extension (526) project. These funds would match the $75M Charleston County has already authorized for the project.

The release of the $75M would allow the project to complete the right-of-way acquisitions and to obtain the necessary permits. The permits would be valid for 20 years. Note that despite providing half the funding, the County would not own any of the rights-of-way. It would all be state property.

The estimated cost of the project is $2.2B, of which the state would pay $0.42B (about 20%). Charleston County taxpayers would be responsible for the remainder of the funds. Charleston County taxpayer would also be responsible for any additional project costs including bond servicing costs and cost overruns.

Charleston County has said it will use a 2024 half-cent sales tax referendum to obtain the remaining funding. Officials have said that if the referendum does not pass they will continue to put it on the ballot for the life of the permits. That will be a decision for future councils since current councils cannot bind future councils.

The Joint Bond Review Committee agenda package (starting at page 21 into the document which is marked as page 19), provides an unbiased assessment of the project to-date. The package also includes several letters not previously released to the public. We encourage you to read the agenda package.

We also encourage you to watch the livestream of the meeting starting at 1:00 pm on Tuesday, December 5th. To access the livestream go here. There is a link on the right side of that webpage for "Joint Bond Review Committee, Live Broadcast".