Talking shop: Columbia mayoral hopefuls push business strategies at Chamber forum

Increasing Columbia’s commercial growth, streamlining pathways for business and economic development, and finding ways to address high taxes in the capital city area were prime topics Monday night during a forum for candidates for Columbia mayor.

The Columbia Chamber, in association with the Urban Land Institute, the University of South Carolina, and the state Restaurant and Lodging Association, hosted the mayoral discussion at USC’s Carolina Theater.

Candidates for mayor include former District 3 Columbia Councilman Moe Baddourah; at-large Columbia City Councilwoman Tameika Isaac Devine; Sam Johnson, a former chief of staff to Mayor Steve Benjamin; and District 4 Columbia City Councilman Daniel Rickenmann. Benjamin, who has served for three terms, is not seeking re-election this year.

With the Nov. 2 election just two weeks away, the hopefuls are sharpening their messages on business in the capital city. And it comes at a time when Columbia’s population is growing markedly slower than S.C. cities such as Greenville and Charleston, and in which a study commissioned by the city a year ago suggested the Columbia area’s taxes have stymied growth. The combined commercial property tax rate in Columbia is nearly two times higher than Charleston, about 1.5 times higher than Greenville and 1.2 times higher than Rock Hill, per that study.

Devine, a city council member for 19 years, stressed, among other things, the need for a regional approach in growing commercial investment in the city.

“What you find is, some communities work together as a region, but here in Columbia we tend to work in silos,” Devine said. “We might have the city doing one thing, the county doing another thing, the Central SC Alliance doing something else and the Chamber doing something else. Imagine the power if we took all of that and we worked together for a real plan to bring in economic development.”

Rickenmann, who has served three terms on city council across two stints, said Columbia has an “unfriendly” atmosphere for business and is “not luring institutional investment here.” He said the area’s taxes are troublesome and deter new investment.

He said Columbia needs to get better at selling itself to potential businesses, not just on proximity — like being two hours from the beach — but rather on the city’s keystone assets.

“What we need to be selling is what we have, a great flagship university,” Rickenmann said. “We have an incredible relationship with Fort Jackson. ... We need to cultivate those relationships. We need to be working together, town and gown, to grow this economy. (USC) is our economic engine here, and the students are a big part of it. We haven’t engaged them, and they need to be a part of the process.”

The tax study the city commissioned last year suggested that, in order for Columbia to become more competitive with places like Greenville and Charleston, the city, Richland County and Richland County’s school districts need to work collaboratively to reduce commercial property tax rates, lobby the state government to overhaul part of its tax code, and combine city and county services that are overlapping, among other steps. The city’s property taxes have actually decreased slightly in the last decade, but residents have seen hikes from the county and the schools.

Baddourah, who served two terms on city council but lost a re-election bid in 2019, said he’s not holding his breath that conversations with other governmental entities will lead to lower tax rates, though he is willing to have those discussions.

“We have to work on our tax base, and we have to work with other agencies, the county and the school district and the state, and see if we can lower the millage points in any of those agencies,” Baddourah said. “I’m optimistic, but at the same time I’m realistic. I’ve never seen a government lower their taxes or millage points because another government wants them to.”

Baddourah has said he would freeze water and sewer rate increases if he’s elected, and on Monday suggested waiving business license fees for businesses with less than $500,000 in annual revenue or that have less than four employees.

Johnson, who was Benjamin’s chief of staff for six years and now works as an advisor for Nexsen Pruet law firm and its public relations arm, said he would look for efficiencies in helping businesses get permitted. Specifically, he said he wants to explore a consolidation of certain city and county departments.

“Looking at consolidating our economic development departments, our planning and zoning departments, our community development departments,” Johnson said. “Working more efficiently so that people don’t have to circle the wagons two times, or have to work with two departments and sometimes get two very different answers.

“It’s an opportunity to not only have two groups become one and sing off the same sheet of music, but an opportunity to make sure we are working as efficiently as we possibly can when folks are trying to come here and pay us taxable revenue.”

To watch the Columbia Chamber forum, click here.