Tax, fee increases abound as fiscal year 2016 starts Wednesday

Wednesday marks the start of the 2016 fiscal year for Grand Strand area governments and schools. Here’s how budget decisions will impact some area residents, property owners and students.

▪  A property tax increase is in store for Horry County property owners, to the tune of 7.2 mills. That means, taxes in a home assessed at $100,000 will go up by about $29 annually. The increase will raise about $13.5 million for the county and provide enough money to prevent it from reaching for $8 million in its reserves to balance the 2016 budget. The increase is the maximum allowed this year for Horry County by a state cap.

The increase will generate money to: add two court security officers; four violent crime detectives; three gang unit detectives; purchase body cameras; and provide digital storage for the video. The increase will also provide two prosecutors for the solicitor's office, 3 percent pay increases for county employees and 5 percent increase for Class 1 police officers, provide new stretchers for the ambulance service, provide a needed police radar and help address call volume issues.

▪  An increase in vehicle registration fees in Horry County, from $30 to $50, takes effect Wednesday. The additional funds, projected to raise $5.4 million, will go toward funding an additional 20 miles of resurfaced roads annually, pave an additional two miles of dirt roads annually and send an additional $1 million annually to municipalities for roads.

▪  No tax or fee increase in Myrtle Beach, but its police officers and firefighters will receive a 5 percent salary increase and all 850 full-time city employees could receive up to a 3 percent raise within the next year, based on their work performance.

▪  Higher tuition bills can be expected by many local college students this fall.

Coastal Carolina University and Horry Georgetown Technical College approved tuition hikes in the spring.

At Coastal, the increase will amount to $155 more per semester for in-state students and an additional $380 for their out-of-state peers. Graduate students also saw their tuition prices increase by 3.2 percent for both in-state and out-of-state students.

College officials blamed the increase on higher operating costs and stagnant state funding. Coastal officials had asked for $3 million more in recurring funding. State officials allocated $900,000.

“We’re very pleased with that,” said Coastal President David DeCenzo. “It’s a little more than what came out of the House side of the budget, a little less than what came out of the Senate. But that’s the spirit of compromise. … Any time you get an increase, no matter what that increase is, it’s got to be helpful.”

The university also received nearly $480,000 in one-time money for building projects.

HGTC students will see a tuition increase of 3 percent for both in-state and out-of-state students. The hike amounts to $106 more per year for in-state students and an additional $192 for out-of-state learners.

HGTC officials said the increase will help the college cover the rising costs of employee health benefits, utilities and some other expenses.

▪  Horry County Schools budget will see a nearly $92 million increase from last year, but most of that increase comes from the school building fund. The school system plans to build five new schools and renovate two others throughout the next 10 years to the tune of $451.6 million. The school board approved a 2 percent pay raise for its employees across the board, which will be in effect annually unless a future board decides to redact the raise. No millage increase was approved for the 2015-2016 fiscal year.

This story was originally published June 30, 2015 at 5:33 PM with the headline "Tax, fee increases abound as fiscal year 2016 starts Wednesday."