Google’s $1.6 million impact on Berkeley County

By Octavia Mitchell
Anchor / Reporter
Published: October 7, 2008

Google opens it’s doors for business in Berkeley County, and it’s good news for Berkeley county schools and tax payers.  The company will pump more than a million dollars into the county’s budget.

The county will get one-point-six-million-dollars a year from Google in a fee in lieu of taxes.  County officials say some of the money will go into the county’s general budget, and taxpayers will also benefit.  County Supervisor Dan Davis says, “It’s a significant economic investment in Berkeley county.  This year in our budget, we’ve had tremendous increases in gasoline and cost of doing business, so we need to be able to keep pace with the increase costs, so we don’t have to raise taxes, and certainly having an additional million-and-half, million-six into our general fund helps us to ward off those increases.“

The other portion, an estimated 70-percent will go to schools.  Berkeley county school superintendent Dr. Chester Floyd says right now they don’t know how much money schools will actually receive, but he expects it to be a significant amount, and with the district’s current budget shortfall, any amount will help.  Dr. Floyd says, “We anticipate that it will be a significant boost to our bottom line in Berkeley county, and that’s wonderful for the school system.  We already received a significant cut.  We’re under the impression that there are more cuts coming, so it’s a real concern for any school board or any school administration on how do we continue to provide the same kind of educational opportunities that we do now.  Anything that we get from Google, will be really appreciated.“

Google also brings 200 new jobs, ranging from technology assistants to experienced data center managers to Berkeley county.

Because a part of the 1-point-6 million-dollars from Google will go into the general budget,  Davis says Berkeley county still needs funds for road improvements and projects.  In November, voters will decide on a penny sales tax referendum to help pay for those projects.