S.C. Code Ann. § 12-43-224 — Assessment of undeveloped acreage subdivided into lots

Notwithstanding the requirement that real property is required by law to be appraised at fair market value for ad valorem tax purposes, when undeveloped acreage is surveyed into subdivision lots and the conditional or final plat is recorded with the appropriate county official, the county assessor shall appraise each lot as an individual property and then discount his gross actual market value estimate of the developer's lot holdings under the following conditions:
1. The discount rate shall include only:
(a) typical interest rate as charged by developers within the county to purchasers of lots when the purchase is financed by the developer or, in the absence of financing by the developer, the typical interest rate charged by local savings & loan institutions for mortgages on new homes.
(b) the effective tax rate for the tax district that the lots are located in.
2. The developer has ten or more unsold lots within the homogeneous area on the December 31 tax control date.
3. The assessor shall determine a reasonable number of years for the developer to sell the platted lots, however the estimate shall not exceed seven years.
Each of these components shall be based on identifiable factors in determining "The Present Worth of Future Benefits" based on the discounting process.
Platted lots shall not come within the provisions of this section unless the owners of such real property or their agents make written application therefore on or before May 1st of the tax year in which the multiple lot ownership discounted value is claimed.
The application for the discounted value shall be made to the assessor of the county in which the real property is located, upon forms provided by the county and approved by the department and a failure to so apply shall constitute a waiver of the discounted value for that year.
No lots platted and recorded not receiving the discount provided in this section on December 31, 2011, may receive the discount provided in this section.