Save Our Property Act

2025-2026 Bill 4695: Save Our Property Act - South Carolina Legislature Online

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
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H. 4695
STATUS INFORMATION
General Bill
Sponsors: Reps. Magnuson and Chumley
Document Path: LC-0355DG26.docx
Introduced in the House on January 13, 2026
Currently residing in the House Committee on
Ways and Means
Summary: Save Our Property Act
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

Date

Body

Action Description with journal page number

12/16/2025

House

Prefiled

12/16/2025

House

Referred to Committee on
Ways and Means

1/13/2026

House

Introduced and read first time (
House Journal-page 59
)

1/13/2026

House

Referred to Committee on
Ways and Means
(
House Journal-page 59
)

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legislative information
at the website
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
12/17/2025

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS SO AS TO ENACT
THE "SAVE OUR PROPERTY ACT"; AND BY ADDING SECTION
12-45-440
SO AS TO AUTHORIZE
AN ASSESSOR TO DEFER PROPERTY TAXES UNTIL THE NEXT YEAR ON CERTAIN RESIDENTIAL
OR AGRICULTURAL PROPERTY IF AN APPLICANT'S INCOME IS LESS THAN A CERTAIN
PERCENTAGE OF THE COUNTY MEDIAN INCOME.

B
e it enacted by the
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

S
ECTION 1.
This act may be cited as the "Save Our Property Act".

S
ECTION 2.
C
hapter 45, Title 12 of the S.C. Code is amended by
adding:

S
ection
12-45-440
.
(
A) An individual who
owns residential or agricultural real property that is subject to property tax
may file an application for relief with the assessor, pursuant to subsection
(B), if the individual has owned the property for at least twenty years or inherited
the property from an immediate family member. If the real property was
inherited, the deceased family member and the owner's time of ownership
combined must equal at least twenty years to be eligible. The application must
be filed every year the individual seeks relief.

(
B)
The assessor shall provide a form by which an application for relief may be
filed. The assessor may require the submission of reasonable documentation of
need, such as income tax returns, bank statements, and bills due in the tax
year. The documentation must be accepted as true and the burden of proof is on
the assessor to prove otherwise. The documentation provided is subject to
public review through a Freedom of Information Act request. Personal
identifying information may be redacted from the documentation except the name
of the person filing the application for relief must not be redacted.

(
C)
(
1) Upon review of the application
for relief and supporting documentation, the assessor shall defer all of the
property tax due if the assessor determines that the individual's income is
less than or equal to sixty percent of the county median income. If the
individual's income is greater than sixty percent of the county median income
but less than one hundred percent of the county median income, then the
assessor may defer parts of property tax due until the next tax year. If the
individual's income is greater than one hundred percent of the county median
income, then the assessor may not defer any property tax due on the property
unless the individual received a deferment pursuant to this section for the
same property in the previous tax year. The assessor has the burden of proof to
deny a deferment or any larger deferment. Any amount deferred is not subject to
interest or penalties and is due the next tax year following the next year's
property tax penalty schedule.

(
2) An
individual may file the application for relief in consecutive tax years, and
the assessor may defer all or parts of any previously deferred property tax
until the next tax year in accordance with the provisions of item (1).

(
3) If
the owner of a property that is receiving a deferment or for which an
application has been made dies, then the deferment or application must be
continued as though the owner was not deceased using the most recently
available documentation. The continuation only may cease upon the transfer of
the property to someone other than an immediate family member.

(
4) The
assessor shall notify the treasurer of any deferment.

(
D) Any
decision of the assessor made pursuant to this section may be appealed to the
county board of assessment appeals in the manner set forth in Subarticle 9,
Article 9, Chapter 60, Title 12.

S
ECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval
by the Governor and applies to tax years beginning after 2025.

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This web page was last updated on January 13, 2026 at 2:43 PM