COLUMBIA --- South Carolinians who want to replace old household appliances with new energy-efficient ones will receive discounts of $50-$500 in March under a state rebate program created by federal stimulus dollars.
John Clark, director of the Budget and Control Board's State Energy Office, said he expects the funding for the rebates -- $3.9 million -- to be exhausted in a few weeks of the rebate program.
Shoppers who take advantage of rebates on Energy Star certified refrigerators, dishwashers and hot water heaters must be state residents making purchases in state.
They also have to turn in their old appliances, which stores and contractors participating in the rebate program must agree to recycle.
It's not the first time Palmetto State officials have tried to give residents a break on green appliance purchases.
But the state Supreme Court scrapped an earlier program to create an October sales-tax holiday for energy efficient appliances when it ruled in May that the act was unconstitutional because of its unrelated parts. The legislation contained a month-long tax holiday for the appliances and a two-day holiday for firearms.
After the high court struck down the gun-tax-holiday, the legislature reinstated it as a one-time budget provision.
That means the "Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday" will have to be reapproved in upcoming years.
But this year, shoppers may purchase handguns, rifles and shotguns tax- free on the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving.
However, lawmakers did not resurrect the tax holiday for energy-efficient appliances.
Reach Sarita Chourey at (803) 727-4257 or sarita.chourey@morris.com.
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