WHAT'S BEEN BUILT
What has been built since 2004? Look it up.
For more than twenty years, Charleston County's half cent and the school district's penny have been building roads, transit, protected land and schools. Both governments publish dashboards that track every project, what it cost and whether it is done. This page shows you where to look, so you can see the record for yourself before you vote.
The county tracks every road project on a public dashboard.
In September 2026, Charleston County launched a public Transportation Sales Tax dashboard covering nearly 500 road projects from the first and second half cent programs, going back to 2004. [1] Sort it by part of the county, by project type, by municipality or County Council district, and by whether a project is active or complete. Open any project and you will see its budget, what has been spent, its scope and its timeline. As of its October 5, 2026 update the dashboard listed 490 projects, 401 of them complete, along with more than 55 miles of new sidewalk, nearly 17 miles of bike lanes and more than 16 miles of multi use paths. [2] The finished list is full of roads people drive every day: the Johnnie Dodds Boulevard widening and the Bowman Road interchange in Mount Pleasant (2015), the Bees Ferry Road widening (2013) and the Glenn McConnell Parkway widening (2024) in West Ashley, Harbor View Road (2019) and the Folly Road and Camp Road intersection (2023) on James Island, the Maybank Highway improvements on Johns Island (2024), Palmetto Commerce Parkway and the Future Drive and Northside Drive connections in North Charleston (2012 and 2017), and $72 million toward the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge (2005). [13]
490
road projects on the county dashboard
401
of them complete
895 miles
of roads resurfaced and paved since 2004 [12]
55+ miles
of sidewalk installed
28,855 acres
protected through the county Greenbelt program, tracked on its own dashboard [3]
249 projects
land protection projects funded with $186 million in sales tax dollars and $271 million in matching funds [3]
With that investment comes a responsibility to be good stewards of those dollars and to be transparent about the work they make possible. Joe Boykin, Chairman, Charleston County Council, September 2026. [1]
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The school district posts every penny project, its budget and every dollar spent.
The Charleston County School District runs an online Transparency Portal for its one cent sales tax building programs, with a page for each program: 2010 to 2016, 2017 to 2022 and the current 2023 to 2028 program. For every project the portal shows the original budget, the current budget, the dollars spent to date and the share of the budget spent so far, and the reports are updated monthly. [4] The district's Capital Projects by District pages describe the work in each part of the county: East Cooper, James Island, North Charleston, Johns Island, West Ashley, downtown Charleston and St. Paul's. [5] A countywide map of current projects, published in June 2026, shows where the work is happening right now. [6]
What the current school penny has built so far.
From the district's own reports, updated through August 2026.
Under the current program the district has opened the new Malcolm C. Hursey Montessori School in North Charleston, the new Ladson Elementary School and the new Johns Island Elementary School, and it has finished the support building for Early College High School downtown. [4][7] A new James B. Edwards Elementary School in Mount Pleasant, a new middle school in West Ashley and the expansion of R.B. Stall High School in North Charleston are under construction. [4][7] Through August 2026 the program had spent $376 million on new schools and renovations, $181 million on capital maintenance such as roofs, air conditioning and plumbing at existing schools, and $14 million on classroom technology. [4] The program before it, 2017 to 2022, built the new Lucy Beckham High School and Carolina Park Elementary School in Mount Pleasant, the new Camp Road Middle School on James Island, the new Center for Advanced Studies in West Ashley and the Cooper River Center for Advanced Studies in North Charleston, and it has spent 99 percent of its building budget. [4]
Twenty two years of work. Three questions to keep it going.
Since 2004 the county's half cent has delivered 895 miles of resurfacing and local paving, 69 intersection improvements, 49 miles of bike, pedestrian and multi use paths, more than 125 new CARTA buses and paratransit vehicles, and about 284,000 acres of land preserved, nearly half the county, with $4.56 billion put to work once the state and federal dollars it has drawn in are counted. [12] The school penny has built or renovated schools in every part of the county through three building programs over more than 15 years. [4][7] Both programs are checked by people who do not work for them. A state audit by the South Carolina Department of Revenue reviewed more than 13,500 transactions and about $767 million in transportation sales tax collections and found $615.43 in expenses that did not qualify, which the county repaid. [8] An independent CPA firm, Elliott Davis, finished its review of the current school penny program in July 2026 and reported no exceptions in its testing of bids, contracts, payments and expenditures, with one timing difference in the board's monthly reports that the district had already identified and corrected. [9] The district is audited every year, and a Citizen Oversight Steering Committee of community members reviews the building program. [10][11]
On November 3, three yes votes keep the work going: the transportation half cent, the bond that builds the biggest projects sooner, and the school penny. Vote for where you're going.
SOURCES:
[1] Charleston County news release, Charleston County launches public Transportation Sales Tax dashboard detailing nearly $1 billion in road investments, September 2, 2026. https://charlestontransportation.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/9.2-TST-Release.pdf
[2] Charleston County Transportation Sales Tax Road Projects Dashboard, figures as of its October 5, 2026 data refresh. https://app.powerbigov.us/view?r=eyJrIjoiYzliZmU2M2MtZjI0ZS00NGZiLThkNzktMTVjY2YzODI0ZDVlIiwidCI6ImE5Y2ZhZGFmLTIzZGItNGNjNC1iM2Q5LTdkZjM2YmUwNGRjZCJ9 (also linked from https://charlestontransportation.com/impact/)
[3] Charleston County Greenbelt Program projects dashboard, figures as of its October 7, 2026 refresh. https://greenbelt.charlestoncounty.gov/projects-dashboard.php
[4] Charleston County School District Transparency Portal, Capital Building Programs pages for 2010 to 2016, 2017 to 2022 and 2023 to 2028, August 2026 reports. https://stories.opengov.com/charlestoncountyschooldistrictsc/dc944fed-caf0-4226-8c98-0cdeca3b0cec/published/n4jJY-5Jg?currentPageId=6a76083eff7463bc101dab7e
[5] Charleston County School District, Capital Projects by District. https://www.ccsdschools.com/departments2/operations/capitla-programs-new/capital-projects-by-district
[6] Charleston County School District, map of current capital projects, June 2026. https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1782222293/ccsdschoolscom/sbl9x1cjfmar3og7xhlh/Current_projects_June_2026_map_with_hyperlinks.pdf
[7] Charleston County School District, Phase V (2023 to 2028) Building Programs page, including the final project list. https://www.ccsdschools.com/departments2/operations/capitla-programs-new/one-cent-sales-tax/phase-v-2023-2028
[8] Charleston County news release, State Audit Confirms Strong Financial Controls in Charleston County Transportation Sales Tax Program, December 16, 2025. https://www.charlestoncounty.org/news/2025/state-audit-confirms-strong-financial-controls-in-charleston-county-transportation-sales-tax-program.pdf
[9] Elliott Davis, agreed upon procedures report on the 1 Cent Sales Tax Program, January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2025, dated July 8, 2026, posted by the district's Capital Projects Accounting department. https://www.ccsdschools.com/departments2/financial-services/capital-projects-accounting
[10] Charleston County School District, Accounting department annual audit reports page. https://www.ccsdschools.com/departments2/financial-services/accounting
[11] Charleston County School District, Citizen Oversight Steering Committee page. https://www.ccsdschools.com/departments2/operations/capitla-programs-new/citizen-oversight-steering-committee
[12] Charleston County Transportation Sales Tax program site, Impact page, program totals since 2004. https://charlestontransportation.com/impact/
[13] Charleston County Public Works, Transportation Sales Tax Dashboard Dataset Workbook (the dashboard's downloadable project list, with each project's status, completion year and description), file dated October 6, 2026. https://www.charlestoncounty.gov/departments/public-works/Public-Works-TST-Dataset-Workbook.xlsx