Orangeburg County, SC Historic Preservation: Historic-Cultural Monuments (2026)

The county code's special assessment for rehabilitated historic property, added in 2019, states its intent is 'to grant this special tax assessment to properties that successfully proceed through the city's process as set forth in City Ordinance Number 2018-5' (§ 9-38), and throughout the sections that follow, certification runs through what the code calls the 'city's historic conservation design review commission,' or 'city's HCDRC,' even though the assessment itself is a county tax benefit administered by the county tax assessor, auditor, and treasurer (§ 9-43(h)).

A property first gets preliminary certification from that commission, and while the certified rehabilitation project is underway, the property is assessed at its pre-rehab fair market value for up to two years, or longer if the project is not finished but minimum spending has already occurred (§ 9-40). To qualify, a property needs a 'historic designation,' meaning it is on the National Register of Historic Places, is at least 50 years old and locally designated, sits in a designated historic district, or is designated historic by the Orangeburg County Historical Society (§ 9-41(b)).

Owners must also spend at least 20 percent of the building's fair market value on qualifying rehabilitation to reach minimum expenditures. How much they spend, as a share of FMV, sets how long the special assessment period runs: 20 to 29 percent buys five years, 30 to 39 percent buys ten years, 40 to 49 percent buys fifteen years, and 50 to 100 percent buys the full twenty years (§ 9-41(c)).