Big raises for employees, but no property tax increase in proposed Horry County budget
Horry County Council members on Tuesday pushed forward a $677.8 million budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year that gives major raises to county workers, upgrades the public safety departments, improves recreation facilities and addresses flooding — without raising taxes.
New homes, new residents and new businesses — and the taxes and fees they pay — fueled the county’s budget and gave it millions more than officials thought they had to work with, Barry Spivey, the assistant county administrator, said at a budget workshop Tuesday.
According to the budget, Horry County’s millage rate will remain the same, totaling 84.6 mills. That includes fire service, waste management services and services for seniors.
Including the millage for local schools, and prior to any tax credits, that means the annual property taxes for a $200,000 home will be $1,718. For a $300,000 home, the property taxes will be $2,577.
Council members on Tuesday approved the budget in a 9-2 vote, with Tyler Servant and Gary Loftus voting against the proposal. Council member Al Allen was absent.
Council will take one final vote on the budget in two weeks, and it’s subject to change. At the end of Tuesday’s meeting, council member Danny Hardee called for an increase of 2 mills, to cover inflation and keep up with costs.
“If we don’t do something, we’re going to be in such a deep hole that the people won’t be happy with what we’ll have to do down the road,” Hardee said. “The biggest asset we have in this county is our people.”
Here’s what else you need to know:
Raises for Horry County employees
Most significantly, Horry County’s 2022-23 budget, which will be in place from July 1, through June 30, 2023, includes the highest raises for county employees in at least a decade, spokesperson Kelly Moore said.
Every county employee stands to receive a significant raise and a bonus if the county council leaves the budget it passed Tuesday intact. The raises will be issued across three steps:
- A 15% raise for commissioned police and sheriff’s officers, and a 10% raise for all other employees who make $45,000 per year or less;
- An 11.25% raise for commissioned police and sheriff’s officers and a 7.5% raise for all other employees who make between $45,000 and $100,000 per year; and
- A 7.5% raise for commissioned police and sheriff’s officers and a 5% raise for employees who make more than $100,000 per year.
In addition, the budget includes a $2,500 bonus for every full-time county employee. That bonus will be paid out in payments of $625 per quarter.
Part-time employees will receive $312.50 per quarter, for a total bonus of $1,250.
The raises do not apply to members of county council. Teacher salaries and raises are determined by the school board.
Those raises and bonuses, Spivey explained, are intended to make Horry County a competitive employer compared to Myrtle Beach, Conway, North Myrtle Beach and South Carolina’s other large counties.
With the raises, the starting salary of a county police officer becomes $47,664 annually. A firefighter will start at $41,261 annually, and a corrections officer will start at $42,757. Library assistants, one of the county’s lowest-paid positions, will earn $28,000 annually with the raises.
By comparison, patrol officers in Myrtle Beach start at $44,000 and firefighters start at $39,416. In Georgetown County, patrol officers start at $43,044 and firefighters start at $32,806.
“We need to do more if were going to maintain our level of service and retain our employees,” Spivey said. “This gets us into that range where we can compete.”
The raises also mark a turn away from previous methods Horry County has used to increase employee pay and remain competitive.
After previously using a merit system for raises, in which employees would earn between a 1% and 5% raise based on yearly evaluations, the county last year moved to a graduated system of four steps where the lowest-paid employees received a 5% raise and the highest-paid employees received a 1.67% raise.
New employees
After receiving updated data on revenue projections from the county Assessor’s office in recent weeks, Spivey said the county realized it had $8.3 million in additional revenue to spend.
That increase came from county growth, including business license fees and property taxes. Horry County grew by 7.1% in the past year, Spivey said.
The additional revenue this year means Horry County plans to hire an additional 56 workers, including:
- 14 new Solid Waste Authority employees
- 13 new police officers;
- 12 new employees for the airport
- 8 new employees in its Infrastructure & Regulation division;
- 6 new employees in taxpayer services offices (Assessor, Treasurer and Auditor); and
- 3 new employees in the administration division;
Horry County will have nearly 3,000 total employees — 2,965 — if council passes the budget as-is. The county government is one of the largest employers in the county.
Major county projects also included in budget
Also included in next year’s budget are several major projects that will benefit residents. Horry expects to spend $64 million on capital projects, including buildings, parks and other one-time costs.
Among the biggest expenses is $10 million for the second phase of a public safety training facility. The county began funding that project last year with $3 million. The county is still designing the facility so it’s not yet clear where it will be located or when it will open.
The budget also includes $2.5 million for rehab work to be done on the historic county courthouse in Conway. Nearly $2 million is included to expand the fire stations in Cherry Hill and Maple.
The Carolina Forest Recreation Center is also slated for a major upgrade. The budget includes $3.25 million for those renovations over the next two years.
Spivey on Tuesday also noted that the county was able to shift its future projects and will be able to start building recreation centers in Aynor and Loris beginning in the second half of 2023.
Also included is $40,000 to improve the boat landings at Lees Landing Circle and the Peter Vaught Sr. Park & Landing.
The budget also includes millions for flooding prevention studies. The county and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are sharing the cost of a $3 million flooding study of the Waccamaw River, one of the major sources of flooding in Horry County.
A drainage study in Bucksport, a watershed plan for Simpson Creek and benching for Crabtree are all among the projects Horry County will fund next year.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to clarify that the raises do not apply to members of county council.
This story was originally published May 17, 2022 at 7:14 PM.
