North Myrtle Beach council says residents should vote on tourism sales tax

North Myrtle Beach City Council attempted to balance the input of residents and its relationship with the local chamber of commerce Friday as it decided to defer to a referendum on the matter of passing a 1 percent sales tax for tourism advertising.

The issue, the center of discussions between council and the North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce for months, was raised in a May 5 letter from chamber board member Bill Griste. The chamber requested that council pass the additional 1 percent sales tax, sometimes referred to as a Tourism Development Fee, by a supermajority of five members of the panel.

Instead, the council decided in a workshop that it will send a letter to the chamber denying that request. Mayor Marilyn Hatley said it is too late to add an issue to the November ballot, and that the tax could go up for a referendum in January or February.

“I think we would do a special election for that,” Hatley told The Sun News. “Let the people speak.”

Revenue from the tax, which Myrtle Beach implemented in 2009, would go mainly to the local chamber, which would have to use it to fund out-of-market advertising for North Myrtle Beach. Up to 20 percent of the revenue could be used for property tax relief, and any remaining money would be available to the city.

Multiple council members called the chamber’s letter more of a demand than a request, and members agreed that the city would be better off implementing a sales tax that would only fund infrastructure improvements, rather than earning a small portion of the tourism tax revenue. Such a tax would have to pass the state legislature before North Myrtle Beach could implement it by referendum.

“When I ran businesses for GE, I would never think of about running a promotional sales campaign to get short-term profits when my products were not up to the competition,” Councilman Bob Cavanaugh said. “We’re in a position right now where our infrastructure is way below par.”

By the midpoint of the meeting, Cavanaugh made a point to correct the tone of the remarks, saying that he respected the partnership between the city and the chamber. “I probably was too focused on the question before the board today in my initial comments,” he said. “[The chamber] are really good people.”

Several residents voiced opposition to the tax. North Myrtle Beach resident Chuck Collins said residents shouldn’t be on the hook for advertising, and argued that much of the population of North Myrtle Beach is retired and lives on fixed incomes that would be adversely impacted by an additional sales tax.

“If I own a business, it is incumbent upon me to pay for my own advertising,” Collins told The Sun News.

Griste, who was the chair of the chamber until July, said the additional advertising would increase tax money the city receives through other means, like the fees visitors pay on hotel bills. He said this increased revenue would make it less likely that the council would have to raise property taxes.

“You’re getting more money from the business community, and it will perpetuate and increase,” Griste said.