2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 37 - Consumer Protection Code › Chapter 1 - General Provisions And Definitions › Section 37-1-109. Change of dollar amounts used in the Consumer Protection Code.

(1) From time to time the dollar amounts in this title shall change, as provided in this section, according to and to the extent of changes in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers: U. S. City Average, All Items, 1967=100, compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor, and hereafter referred to as the Index. The Index for December of 1976 is the Reference Base Index.
(2) The designated dollar amounts shall change on July first of each even-numbered year if the percentage of change, calculated to the nearest whole percentage point, between the Index at the end of the preceding year and the Reference Base Index is ten percent or more, but
(a) the portion of the percentage change in the Index in excess of a multiple of ten percent shall be disregarded and the dollar amounts shall change only in multiples of ten percent of the amounts appearing in this title; and
(b) the dollar amounts shall not change if the amounts required by this section are those currently in effect as a result of earlier application of this section.
(3) If the Index is revised, the percentage of change pursuant to this section shall be calculated on the basis of the revised Index. If a revision of the Index changes the Reference Base Index, a revised Reference Base Index shall be determined by multiplying the Reference Base Index then applicable by the rebasing factor furnished by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. If the Index is superseded, the Index referred to in this section is the one represented by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as reflecting most accurately changes in the purchasing power of the dollar for consumers.
(4) The administrator, as defined in Section 37-1-301, shall publish a notice in the State Register:
(a) On or before April thirtieth of each year in which dollar amounts are to change, the changes in dollar amounts required by subsection (2); and
(b) Promptly after the changes occur, changes in the index required by subsection (3) including, if applicable, the numerical equivalent of the Reference Base Index under a revised Reference Base Index and the designation or title of any index superseding the index.
(5) A person shall not be deemed to have violated this title with respect to a transaction otherwise complying with this title if he relies on dollar amounts either determined according to subsection (2) or appearing in the last regulation of the administrator announcing the then current dollar amounts.
(6) The dollar amounts in the following sections of this title are subject to change in accordance with this section: 37-2-104(1)(e), 37-2-106(1)(b), 37-2-203(1), 37-2-407(1), 37-2-705(1)(a) and (b), 37-3-104(1)(d), 37-3-203(1), 37-3-510, 37-3-511, 37-3-514, 37-5-103(2), (3), and (4), 37-10-103, and 37-23-80.
HISTORY: 1980 Act No. 411, Section 1; 1982 Act No. 385, Sections 3, 57(2)(g); 1984 Act No. 261, Section 3; 1985 Act No. 121, Section 1; 2001 Act No. 82, Section 1, eff July 20, 2001; 2003 Act No. 42, Section 2.B, eff January 1, 2004.