Briefs
by John Temple Ligon
Property taxes compared According to the S.C. Association of Counties, as reported in Carolina Living magazine, property taxes in Columbia, Greenville, and Charleston vary greatly. Columbia is the most expensive city for property taxes, and Charleston, the cheapest. The property taxes for an $800,000 house and a $50,000 boat/car: Charleston, $4,168, $733; Greenville, $4,828, $905; Columbia, $6,484, $1,365. House and boat/car combined, Columbia ($7,849) is 60% more expensive than Charleston ($4,901) and 37% more expensive than Greenville ($5,733).

TC rhavrel le +s tLo enis: uWree're No. 4! magazine reports its latest readers survey resulted in naming Charleston the fourth favorite city in the United States and Canada. The top 10: (1) New York, (2) San Francisco, (3) Chicago, (4) Charleston, (5) Santa Fe, (6) Quebec City, (7) Montreal, (8) Vancouver, (9) Savannah, (10) Victoria, British Columbia. Worldwide, Bangkok was voted the best city. All the results are on the magazine's Web site.

Additions to Columbia flights US Airways is adding a fourth daily flight to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, and American Airlines is adding a fourth daily flight to Dallas.

On time The Columbia Metropolitan Airport is ranked fourth out of six S.C. airports for on- time departures for the first quarter of 2008. Florence has the best on- time departure record, and Myrtle Beach, the worst.

TSohue tWh o Crla dr oTl ri an da e s Mupapgl ay zine recently cited South Carolina's combined supply chain management and facilities as one the the nation's best- kept supply chain secrets. The praise came as part of the magazine's "Fabulous 50 + One" issue which covers who's pushing the world trading community forward. The Port of Charleston is expanding by 50% by 2013.

South Carolina trade In terms of merchandise receipts produced in its dutyfree foreign- trade zones, South Carolina ranks among the top 15 states, as researched by the National Association of Foreign- Trade Zones. Across the country, including the three foreign trade zones in South Carolina, about $500 billion in economic activity can be credited to the foreign trade zones.

Columbian does well A.C. Flora's Kristin Davis of "Sex and the City" fame has agreed with Belk Inc. for the sale of her brand of apparel, handbags, and jewelry, all initially at 125 Belk stores and at Belk.com. The new line will debut this fall.

New News Charlotte- based American City Business Journals is launching a daily digital national sports newspaper July 23, called Sporting News Today. The company is also reformatting and redesigning Sporting News Magazine, which will switch from a weekly to a biweekly publication on Sept. 1.

Something we should try here The North Carolina Department of transportation is helping commuters find carpoolers statewide through its online networking site, www.SharetheRideNC.org.

Jobless The South Carolina jobless total climbed to 6.5% in May, almost a full percentage point jump from the jobless rate of 5.6% in May 2007. For the Midlands, Lexington County had a jobless rate of 4.4%, the lowest, and Fairfield County, the highest at 10.6%.

Cigarette taxes South Carolina's 7 cents tax on a pack of cigarettes is the lowest in the country. The 7 cents has been in effect since 1977. The federal tax per pack has increased from 8 to 49 cents since then. The proposed 50 cents per pack tax was vetoed by the governor. The 50 cents tax would have generated about $160 million, money targeted for health insurance premiums. Look for legislation next year reintroducing the proposal.

Transit The U.S. Senate's proposed transportation budget for 2009 contains $18 million for expanding Charlotte's light- rail system and nothing for any city's rail system in South Carolina. There is none.