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The county's action follows the lead of Hilton Head Island, which last week committed to a $1 million grant if tournament organizers cannot find a new title sponsor in time for a 43rd annual tournament next year.
Organizers said they hope the two governments' commitments will convince the tour that the Heritage has the financial resources to secure a date on next year's schedule. The organizers, who have a phone call scheduled with tour officials today, said they could secure a date during that conversation.
Organizers have searched for months without success for a company to pay $7 million to $8 million to put its name on the tournament. Verizon is not returning as title sponsor.
Organizers have said the Heritage Classic Foundation, which runs the tournament, must prove to the PGA Tour that it has at least $5.9 million to fulfill obligations to the tournament's purse and TV deals. The foundation has about $4 million in reserve, but officials have said they are reluctant to use it all at once.
THE DEAL
County officials are calling their commitment a loan.
Under a financing proposal tentatively approved Monday, the county would provide the money from a $2.5 million fund accumulated from a hospitality tax levied on prepared food and beverages.
The county would get all its money back if organizers find at least $4 million in new sponsorship by Feb. 1.
If that level of sponsorship doesn't materialize, the county could convert the balance to a loan or use the tournament's TV advertising spots -- that would normally go to a title sponsor -- to promote itself or sell to others.
The county's commitment differs from that of Hilton Head, which said it would not release its money until closer to the tournament but does not expect to be repaid if no sponsor emerges.
In order to provide tournament officials with a firm commitment as soon as possible, County Council voted separately on a resolution to commit the $1 million and approved the first of three readings of an ordinance to specify its source.
Both votes were 7-1, with Councilman Steve Baer voting against both. Councilmen Bill McBride and Gerald Dawson abstained. Councilman Jerry Stewart was not at the meeting.
OBJECTIONS RAISED
Baer wanted to require the Heritage to trim expenses or raise ticket prices to come up with $1 million, but a motion asking tournament organizers to explore such measures failed.
Baer said those measures could help assure the tournament's survival beyond 2011.
He argued council should have a say in the tournament's operations, just as the federal government intervened when it aided General Motors during the recession.
Among other points, he said ticket prices are too low and the county shouldn't be obligated to "prop up" the Heritage's pro-am, which he said loses money.
"There's all kinds of things in here I just cannot condone the use of hospitality tax money to support," said Baer, who represents Hilton Head.
Other council members, however, countered they felt compelled not to micromanage the Heritage's affairs for fear of sending a lukewarm message about the county's support for the tournament.
"I think we need to make an unequivocal commitment," Chairman Weston Newton said.
The tournament, played annually at Harbour Town Golf Links in Sea Pines, had an estimated economic impact of $81.9 million in 2010, according to a study produced this year by Clemson University and the University of South Carolina Beaufort. The foundation has distributed more than $20 million to charity since 1987.
In other action, council:
• Approved allocating only $200,000 this year -- rather than last year's $280,000 -- in a first round of accommodations tax grants to tourism and arts organizations this year. The county's accommodations tax fund is about $25,000 in the red.
• Approved an $11.5 million construction contract for Phase 5A of the Bluffton Parkway from Burnt Church Road to Buckingham Plantation. The source of the funds is the county's 1 percent sales tax road improvement program.
• Approved on second reading the Daufuskie Island Community Preservation Plan.
• Authorized county administrator Gary Kubic to negotiate the purchase and renovation of a structure to be used for a community training home for they county's disabilities and special needs program at a price of $305,000.
