Horry County Council delays funding I-73, for now
If it seemed in recent weeks that South Carolina was making concrete progress on building a new interstate highway, Horry County Council members pumped the brakes on Tuesday.
The council at its Tuesday night meeting — after nearly an hour of debate — voted down a resolution that would have dedicated $4.2 million annually for up to 30 years to the major road project.
Interstate 73 is a long-planned highway that would connect I-95 near Dillon to SC-22 near Conway. The project would be the Grand Strand’s first-ever connection to the national interstate system, and backers of the highway have said it would lead to an economic boom for Horry County.
Opponents of the project, though, have argued that the interstate would take up county funds needed for other local road projects.
Several council members argued Tuesday that it was premature for Horry County to put money toward the major interstate project when federal, state and other local funding was not yet available.
Legal challenge ends
Events in recent weeks led the county council to consider the funding resolution Tuesday. In September, a federal judge ruled against a South Carolina environmental group, the Coastal Conservation League, denying the group’s opposition to federal permits awarded to I-73. That meant the permits, which dealt with the highway’s impact on wetlands, could stand, and the ruling set off efforts to fund I-73 now that a significant legal challenge had ended.
Within weeks, Horry County leaders put together the funding plan the council voted down on Tuesday. That plan would have used roughly one-third of Horry County’s annual hospitality fee collections — a pot of money collected from a 1.5% sales tax on restaurant meals, hotel stays and event tickets — for up to 30 years to issue a bond and pay back a lump sum of cash that would have gone to the project. One-third of those funds equaled around $4.2 million annually, meaning the county could have contributed as much as $126 million to the project, though interest payments on the bond and other costs would have reduced that figure.
Then, earlier this month, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster announced in Myrtle Beach that he plans to dedicate $300 million to I-73, partially from the state’s portion of federal American Rescue Plan funds, and partially from a budget surplus. That announcement caused Horry County Council member Johnny Vaught, who represents parts of Conway and Carolina Forest, to call a special committee meeting so the full council could debate the I-73 funding question on Tuesday.
But on Tuesday, members of the public and county council members alike questioned why the county would vote to approve funding for a project before other governments had secured money. Critics pointed out that McMaster needs approval from the state legislature to appropriate funds, and that neither the federal government nor other local municipalities had approved funds for the project yet.
Ultimately, council members voted down the I-73 funding resolution 6-5, with County Council Chairman Johnny Gardner joining council members Harold Worley, Al Allen, Danny Hardee, Mark Causey and Orton Bellamy to kill the measure. Council member Tyler Servant, who represents Surfside Beach, was not present at Tuesday’s meeting.
As Allen put it, he’d support Horry County funding I-73 if other governments also chipped in substantial funding. But until then, he said, the county should use its local tax dollars for local projects.
“I will go on record saying, when the federal government and the state government puts in not just their adequate funding but their comparative funding to other interstates across this country, I’ll be the first one to jump on board,” Allen said. “But until then I think it is reckless to hang the citizens of Horry County and be the only government entity.”
He added that Horry County funding I-73 first would “hang” residents “and their public funding on the hook on a possible highway that may never get built when we can use that money for other projects and other roads right here in Horry County.”
As plans stand now, I-73 is slated to cost $1.6 billion to run from Conway to Dillon, around 43 miles. South Carolina will pay for $795 million of that, $430 million will come from the federal government and local governments will be on the hook for $350 million. That local total is what Horry County, Myrtle Beach and other municipalities are currently trying to reach. Municipalities in other counties aren’t expected to contribute funds at this point.
SC-90 funding
Tuesday’s vote on I-73 followed a lengthy debate in which council members discussed delaying votes on both I-73 funding and a funding plan for SC-90, a once-rural highway between Conway and North Myrtle Beach that’s seen immense development in recent years. Though a procedural measure tied votes for the two funding plans together on Tuesday, council members ultimately separated them and voted on each funding plan individually. The funding plan for SC-90, which would put $30 million in leftover road project funds toward raising and widening portions of the road, passed unanimously.
Because the council ultimately voted down the I-73 resolution Tuesday, fresh legislation will have to start at the beginning of the county’s legislative process if Horry County is going to consider funding the highway in the future.
Dennis DiSabato, the county council member who originally proposed the I-73 package and a supporter of the project, did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday night.
Prior to Tuesday’s vote, several residents questioned why the council was considering funding a highway when other roads and services in the county needed to be improved.
“Millions on I-73. Why pay for a new interstate that only benefits Myrtle Beach and the tourists traveling there?” asked Kevin Mishoe, a community organizer in the Bucksport area. “Use this money to help communities like Bucksport who’re suffering from flooding. Repair our existing roads, bridges and communities that have flooded first as a priority.”
Mark McBride, the former mayor of Myrtle Beach who is running against U.S. Rep. Tom Rice for his seat in Congress, echoed a sentiment others on Tuesday shared.
“I support I-73 when (Sen.) Lindsey Graham, Tom Rice and (Sen.) Tim Scott can bring the money,” he said. “I haven’t talked to one person who supports I-73 ... Put it into the existing roads first.”
Conservative activist Chad Caton, who is active in the Horry County Republican Party, argued that existing infrastructure in Horry County and the other municipalities couldn’t support more tourists if I-73 brought them.
“This is a lobby thing; this isn’t a citizen thing. I understand that most of our people’s jobs and what Myrtle Beach and Horry County is about is the vacationers, I get that. But we’ve talked about infrastructure for years ... Our infrastructure is being worked to death right now and by that I mean public safety alone,” Caton said.
Council members on Tuesday, at multiple points, signaled that they weren’t against I-73 as a whole, and may vote to support it in the future.
“Nobody has stepped up to the plate and swung at this fastball except for Horry County,” said Vaught, who made the original motion Tuesday to delay debate on the I-73 funding plan. “I don’t want to throw this out with the bathwater, I want to keep this thing alive, until we find out if (other governments are) going to step up or not.”
This story was originally published October 19, 2021 at 9:51 PM with the headline "Horry County Council delays funding I-73, for now."
