Incumbent Phil Kieffer says Effingham County can eliminate county property taxes on qualifying homeowners while managing continued growth. Write-in challenger James Daniels supports the goal of tax relief but questions how it will be funded, while calling for tighter controls on major developments, stronger public safeguards and greater transparency in county decision-making. The Effingham Herald asked both candidates the same three questions about Project Camellia, property tax relief and growth. Their biographies and responses follow. Effingham County’s proposed Project Camellia data center for OpenAI has generated questions about the project’s impact on nearby residents, water resources, electricity demand, noise and the environment. What conditions, safeguards or enforceable commitments do you believe should be in place to protect residents, and what role should the County Commission play in ensuring those protections are met? Effingham County has launched Project Zero, with the goal of eliminating county property taxes on qualifying homesteads, and commissioners recently backed a proposal to increase the senior school tax exemption from $20,000 to $100,000. Do you support these approaches to tax relief? How would you ensure the county can sustain meaningful tax relief over the long term while continuing to fund public safety, roads and other essential services? As Effingham County attracts major industrial investments and continues to grow, how would you determine which…
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