‘We … misinterpreted the judge’s intent’: County to hold meeting on hospitality taxes

Horry County Government is going to work on a Saturday to clarify who will collect the 1.5 percent Hospitality Fee come July 1.

Council Member Johnny Vaught confirmed that a meeting will be held at 5 p.m. Saturday to discuss the matter and give direction to staff and Treasurer Angie Jones.

The meeting will be public and in Horry County Council Chambers in Conway.

Earlier this year, Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach and Surfside passed ordinances to begin collecting their own hospitality fee on July 1. Horry County has collected the fee on hospitality services in all areas of the county including city limits for more than two decades.

On March 20, Myrtle Beach sued Horry County and filed an injunction to keep Horry County from collecting the fee. Last week, ahead of those ordinances going into affect, a judge handed down a ruling saying Horry County could not collect the hospitality fee in Myrtle Beach and similar municipalities until a final decision was made in the lawsuit.

A few days later, Horry County sent out a news release stating it would not collect the fee in Myrtle Beach, but would continue doing so in other municipalities like North Myrtle Beach and Surfside Beach.

This sparked subsequent news releases and legal action from North Myrtle Beach and Surfside Beach, saying Horry County is acting outside of the judge’s ruling.

The special meeting must be held Saturday before those ordinances go into affect, Vaught said.

While he doesn’t like it, Vaught said he doesn’t think the judge’s ruling gives Horry County the authority to collect the fee until a final decision is made.

“We need to clarify that, because apparently there has been a misunderstanding between the attorneys and the judge,” he said. “I think the judge’s intent was to include all the municipalities and I think we, or someone, misinterpreted the judge’s intent.”

The decision to hold a special meeting happened after Jones called Vaught, saying she didn’t think Horry County was authorized to collect this money. She said she called him since he was the chair of the administration committee.

Jones said she wants to do right by all the local governments, and added her staff is going through changes that will save the county money, but is keeping her folks busy as well.

“What I don’t want to see is us get into a situation where we refund all these businesses and tie up my hospitality staff and my treasure staff while I’m trying to implement all these new programs,” she said. “It will be a nightmare for me.”

The judge’s ruling on the injunction is not the end of the lawsuit over who will collect this fee within cities’ limits moving forward.

Hypothetically, Horry County could return to collecting the fee, or lose the ability to collect the fee in municipalities entirely, depending on a final verdict.

This story was originally published June 27, 2019 at 9:18 PM.