Court Opinion

ID: 9625095
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 07:27:41.337374+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:16:00.006828
License: Public Domain

*96Chief Justice TOAL,
concurring:
I concur with the majority’s result in every respect. I write separately only to note that this opinion is consistent with my dissent in Ed Robinson Laundry and Dry Cleaning, Inc. v. South Carolina Dept. of Revenue, 356 S.C. 120, 588 S.E.2d 97 (2003). In my dissent, I explained that, in my view, the 61 sales tax exemptions found in S.C.Code Ann. section 12-46-2120 (Supp.2002) rendered the statute unconstitutional because there was no rational basis for the classifications, which treated similarly situated entities differently for sales tax purposes.
Likewise, in reaching its conclusion today that the classification created by section 5-l-30(A)(4) (Supp. 2003) is arbitrary and therefore unconstitutional, the majority explains that there is no rational basis for allowing only certain geographic areas to use territory belonging to a neighboring municipality for the purposes of incorporation.
In sum, I believe that both opinions correctly analyze the constitutionality of the statutes in question.