The $4.25 Billion Watch Promised: $4.25 billion•Committed so far: none reported•Johnnie Dodds at Wingo Way: $230M promised•Long Point Road resiliency: $170M promised•Quick start list: $50M•Bonds sold: none•Last checked: Nov 5, 2026• Promised: $4.25 billion•Committed so far: none reported•Johnnie Dodds at Wingo Way: $230M promised•Long Point Road resiliency: $170M promised•Quick start list: $50M•Bonds sold: none•Last checked: Nov 5, 2026•
Charleston, South Carolina

THE CHARLESTON WIRE

Straight talk for the Lowcountry.

Follow the Money

Charleston County voters approved a $4.25 billion transportation sales tax on November 3, 2026. County Council controls the money. This page tracks what was promised against what the county actually does, project by project. Every figure comes from a county document and carries its date. Last checked November 5, 2026.

The promised split

Featured road projects
$1,698M
Public transit
$858M
Greenbelt land program
$690M
Pavement management
$390M
Debt service
$284M
Intersection safety
$115M
Prior tax carryover
$113M
Bike and pedestrian
$77M
Signal coordination
$25M

The tax implies roughly $170 million a year in collections. Actual collections will be posted here as the county reports them.

Sources: County program one-pager, July 21, 2026 · County news release, ordinance final reading · CharlestonTransportation.com

The Mount Pleasant promises

Promised · Not started

Johnnie Dodds Boulevard at Houston Northcutt, and Wingo Way

$230 million · The largest Mount Pleasant item in the ordinance. Status from county documents only; this line changes the day the county funds, designs, or builds any part of it.

Source: County program one-pager, July 21, 2026

Promised · Not started

Long Point Road resiliency

$170 million · Raising and hardening the road that floods. Separate from the overnight lane work already underway near the port.

Source: County program one-pager, July 21, 2026

Promised · Not started

The quick start list

$50 million · Smaller projects the county said could move first, including Whipple Road at Mathis Ferry at $8 million.

Source: County program one-pager, July 21, 2026

First test · Council decision pending

Johns Island trail funding, Greenbelt

More than $1 million · The first spending request since the vote, a Tupelo Trail Greenbelt ask now in front of the new County Council. The budget watch is tracking the outcome.

Source: Live 5 News, November 5, 2026

What changed

November 5, 2026Baseline set. Voters approved the tax with 63.91 percent yes and the bonds with 64.0 percent yes on November 3, final unofficial returns. The first monthly check against the ordinance found no changes to budgets, scope, or schedules.

Source: County program one-pager, July 21, 2026

November 3, 2026Charleston County Council flipped to a Democratic majority the same night the tax passed. The council that spends this money is not the council that wrote the project list.

Source: Post and Courier, election results

The bonds

Borrowing against the tax

Voters authorized bonds in the second ballot question. Sold so far: none reported. The ordinance budgets $284 million for debt service over the life of the program. Every bond sale, its amount, and its cost will be logged here.

Source: County news release, ordinance final reading, July 21, 2026

How this page is kept: The Wire checks county sources monthly against the July 21, 2026 ordinance. No figure appears here without a county document behind it. Changes post only after editorial review, and each change is also reported as a story on the front page.