Payback time for beach parking? County money for Myrtle Beach’s superblock project at risk

PINOPOLIS — No new taxes from Horry County residents are needed this year for local government agencies to meet a projected $453 million budget.

The numbers were revealed Wednesday during the county council’s annual budget retreat here, where they are making the final decisions for the fiscal year 2018 spending that begins in July.

The budget includes funding for road paving projects, additional job positions, and payroll raises that average three percent for 2,200 county workers.

But what the budget might now include is nearly one-quarter million in funds for Myrtle Beach’s planned library and children’s museum project.

Councilmen questioned whether the funding should support a library that charges county residents for a library card, while Myrtle Beach residents get free cards.

Thinly veiled questions from Councilman Dennis DiSabato and Council Chairman Mark Lazarus made reference to Myrtle Beach’s new parking fees that county residents say unfairly limits them from parking on the Golden Mile when purchasing a $100 parking permit.

The county considered legal action to nudge the Myrtle Beach City Council to change the rules, but concluded they had no legal standing.

County officials later suggested that pressure could be applied in a different manner to encourage Myrtle Beach to change the parking fees, particularly when the budget process began.

The Council expects to have the final budge details hammered out by Friday.

On Thursday, county officials will discuss funding proposal for emergency services, including money for nine new patrol officers at a cost of $1.4 million to improve response times and coverage.

Although the county has proposed funding to help pay for three school resource officers to operate in county middle schools, Police Chief Joseph Hill says those are officers he doesn’t need.

“Having a presence in the school is a positive, but we’re not making any criminal arrests in middle schools,” Hill said.

Hill signaled that he will oppose that funding request.

Budget projections show that the county will see an additional $9 million more in revenues in the next fiscal year, mostly from property taxes that account for 59 percent of the county’s total revenue.

Property taxes in the 2018 fiscal year are expected to raise $94.9 million while the current fiscal year will see $90.8 million in property taxes.

There was only a small bump in growth for business licenses, $10.5 million for this year compared to $10.3 million collected last year.

Councilmen expressed concern that legislation moving through the state legislature could cut into business license fee revenues, by moving the collection to the state government that would then disperse funds locally.

“We’re going to continue to fight that, we don’t want any more of our money to go to Columbia,” Lazarus said.

Added Councilman Johnny Vaught: “They always tend to keep a piece of it.”

Also on Wednesday, the council announced plans to renew the contract with the Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corporation’s contract for $1.1 million.

And, outside of the RIDE III program, the county budgeted $8.6 million to pave five miles of dirt roads and resurface 35 miles of county paved roads.

This story was originally published March 23, 2017 at 7:46 AM with the headline "Payback time for beach parking? County money for Myrtle Beach’s superblock project at risk."