North Myrtle Beach proposes tax hike: These projects would dig deeper into your wallet
Property taxes would increase as North Myrtle Beach officials look to expand the city’s sports complex in proposed 2020-21 fiscal year budget.
City Council unveiled its $119 million proposed budget, which carries a $27 million increase over last year and a 7.9 mill property tax hike, during its budget retreat in Pinopolis on Monday morning. The proposed increase comes a year after council approved a budget that reduced its millage rate by 6.1 mills after paying off an eight-year bond that was used to purchase and construct the 162-acre North Myrtle Beach Park and Sports Complex.
The current property tax rate is 37.1 mills. Upon passage, the rate would increase to 45 mills.
Last year the city spent $4.2 million purchasing 96 acres of west of the Intracoastal Waterway to expand the sports complex using a two-year short-term loan. The increased millage would be used to cover the debt for park construction after the land is paid for. Officials believe the 7.9 mills increase would reduce by the same amount after paying off the bond.
Officials contend the facility has attracted over two million visitors generating over $100 million in revenue since opening in 2014. They said the expansion would provide the available space to compete and host multiple large sports tourism events and continue to offer opportunities for adult recreation and youth leagues.
While no plans have been approved, officials discussed what they’d like to see if the sports complex is expanded.
Ideally, the expansion would be broken into phases. The first phase would add six baseball fields and seven soccer fields, with one being a stadium field, for an estimated $17.9 million. Both the soccer and baseball complexes would include concessions, restrooms, picnic shelters and a playground.
The second phase would construct a roughly 17,000-square-foot family entertainment center at an estimated $9.7 million that would include a 56-game arcade room, an interactive playground, a TAG interactive obstacle arena, birthday party rooms, food and beverage, and provide space for the city’s annual Christmas light show.
The third phase would include an estimated $5.9 million water park with water slides, cabanas, a splash area with no standing water and one which will hold a great volume of water, and a retail store.
If approved in its current form, plans would result in a 9.3 mil increase in a later budget.
While City Manager Mike Mahaney said a lot of research has to be conducted prior to setting any plans in motion, officials agreed the proposed ideas would grow the city’s tourism market to another level.
“We want to provide them with that something else,” Mayor Marilyn Hatley said. “It would certainly expand our capability of growing our economy and keeping our tourists in our city.”
The proposed budget also includes a $14 million project that would construct the 18th Avenue North ocean outfall. Officials are projecting a September construction date. Other areas are also being evaluated for outfall construction based on flooding in those particular locations.
Additionally, the budget would allot the initial funding for a roughly 30,000 square-foot Emergency Operations Center and Data Management Center on the west side of the Intracoastal Waterway. The facilities would open by 2023, officials said.
“I think this is the best thing we can do,” Hatley said. “Get on the other side of the waterway.”
Officials said the facility would provide a space to manage impacts during storms stronger than a category 3 hurricane. Currently, staff members remain at City Hall during storms. The data center would also offer the city a secure location in the event a major hurricane compromises infrastructure located east of the waterway.
The two facilities would share the site of a new fire station that would be available for service several years down the line.
Jay Fernandez, director of public safety, said the project would be split into three phases with construction ideally starting next January.
“I think we need to move forward on this,” Hatley said. “We’ve got to start somewhere.”
The proposed budget will be subject to two readings in May. The new budget must be approved by July 1, the start of the new fiscal year.
This story was originally published February 24, 2020 at 3:30 PM.
