S.C. Code Ann. § 56-3-120
The following vehicles are exempt from registration and licensing under this chapter:
(6) firefighting vehicles that are publicly owned by the state or a county, municipality, or special purpose district as follows:
HISTORY: 1962 Code SECTION 46-12; 1952 Code SECTION 46-12; 1949 (46) 342; 1996 Act No. 425, SECTION 2; 1997 Act No. 125, SECTION 1I; 2000 Act No. 375, SECTION 4; 2002 Act No. 348, SECTION 6; 2017 Act No. 40 (H.3516), SECTION 8.C, eff January 1, 2019.
2017 Act No. 40, SECTIONS 8.L, 8.M, provide as follows:
"L. (1) Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary within this SECTION, a person who registers a vehicle for use in this State pursuant to Article 23, Chapter 37, Title 12, as amended by this act, must register his vehicle during calendar year 2019 and is required to pay the road fees calculated based on the fair market value of the vehicle as specified in Sections 12-37-2820 and 12-37-2850 at the time the vehicle's registration fees are paid.
"(2) Notwithstanding the provisions in Section 12-37-2865(B) and (C), as contained in this SECTION, to the contrary, during calendar year 2019, the first four hundred thousand dollars of fee revenue collected pursuant to Section 12-37-2865 must be retained by the Department of Motor Vehicles to defray programming costs.
"(3) The initial millage required by Section 12-37-2850 must be calculated on or before June 1, 2018.
"M. This SECTION takes effect January 1, 2019, except that the Department of Revenue, in consultation with the Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office, shall calculate the millage to be used to calculate the road use fee provided in Section 12-37-2850 by July 1, 2018."
2017 Act No. 40, SECTION 8.C, rewrote (5), relating to large commercial motor vehicles.