Richland County was notified Wednesday that the SC Department of Revenue (DOR) will be ordered to release the County’s penny sales tax revenues.

One day after Richland County argued its case in state court, Judge Thomas G. Cooper’s clerk notified County officials that the judge will grant the County’s petition for DOR to release the quarterly tax proceeds collected by DOR from local retail sales. County officials are awaiting the signed order.

The penny sales tax was approved by Richland County voters in 2012, and the program began collecting taxes in 2013.

DOR collects the tax, sends it the State Treasurer and advises the treasurer’s officer how much to distribute to the County. The funds are distributed on a quarterly basis. The last quarterly collection in April was about $15.5 million. The penny program is expected to raise $1.04 billion during the 22-year life of the program.

To date, the penny program has completed more than 70 projects. Projects scheduled for completion this year include the first phase of Greene Street, the Shop Road extension, the Lincoln Tunnel Greenway and the Riverbanks Zoo pedestrian bridge.

For more information on the penny projects, visit www.richlandpenny.com.