‘This is not an easy year’: Myrtle Beach leaders approve $193.7 million budget for 2021
Myrtle Beach city leaders gave final approval to their $193.7 million budget for 2021 that doesn’t result in a property tax hike but remains flexible in the event the coronavirus pandemic takes a turn for the worse.
The roughly $7.7 million, or 3.8 percent, decrease in spending over the previous year will also allow the city to adequately recoup funds lost due to the spread of COVID-19. Due to the health crisis, there will be no increase on property taxes, storm water, water and sewer, recreation, sports tourist and on the Myrtle Beach Convention Center.
“I know that citizens and businesses are facing the same uncertainty we are,” Michelle Shumpert, director of financial management, said during Tuesday’s City Council meeting. “We want to make sure we lessen the burden on them.”
With a $10.9 million, or 13.3 percent, decrease in tourism and business-driven revenues, city officials are being advised to remain flexible as they monitor future spending and returns. The budget will see a 1.9 percent reduction in overtime across all departments, along with a suspension placed on holiday bonuses and salary increases.
While the budget doesn’t include any layoffs for full-time employees, workers could face furloughs, layoffs or pay reductions if revenues are impacted to a greater degree than expected. Despite the impacts of the pandemic, the city hasn’t been forced to furlough any full-time workers, unlike North Myrtle Beach and Surfside Beach.
Shumpert explained the city would do everything to avoid layoffs but admitted the challenges could arise as businesses continue to operate at a limited capacity.
“We know this is going to be a challenging year. We know there are going to be impacts,” she said. “What we’ve done is built in this budget flexibility. We’re going to continually monitor revenue and come back and discuss where we are during workshops.”
Officials said they instead implemented a hiring freeze to delay filling current vacancies, utilized existing full-time staff to cover services in lieu of hiring part-time or temporary employees, and reduced capital spending and materials cost.
Officials previously said the hiring freeze and the delay on filling current vacancies has saved the city $750,000.
Additionally, all capital projects will be put on hold until the fall, and they will halt any fleet replacements.
Furthermore, the reduction in capital spending and operational management has resulted in roughly $1.8 million in savings. The retirement health insurance fund has also been changed to net $2.9 million back to the city, officials said. Additionally, changes were made to some non-essential city services.
In the event revenues aren’t severely impacted following the budget’s passage, the city will consider lifting current suspensions noted in the proposed budget.
“This is not an easy year,” Mayor Brenda Bethune said.
The new fiscal year begins on July 1.
This story was originally published June 23, 2020 at 11:46 AM.
