Celebrate Hilton Head’s financial stewardship but not its willingness to care for workers
Hilton Head Island recently announced that it had received a triple A rating from Moody’s credit rating service. Understandably, the town’s leadership is delighted and proud of this designation. Such a high rating helps the town borrow money at lower interest rates. It demonstrates the strong financial footing of our community, including a solid economy and strong tax base. People should be proud of our leaders for their financial stewardship of our public funds.
But how do we balance that piece of good news with a recent analysis from the Smartest Dollar Consumer Advocacy Organization on wages compared to the cost of renting an apartment?
Hilton Head/Bluffton was rated No. 10 in the nation among small metro cities for the largest wage renter gap. Rent for an apartment in our part of the Lowcountry averages $1,100 a month. To afford that kind of rent, according the Smartest Dollar survey, one would have to make an hourly wage of $21.58. The survey claims that Hilton Head’s hourly wage earners receive $11.16. This creates a minus 47% renter wage gap and puts Hilton Head at No. 23 among the largest rental wage gaps in the United States.
And we wonder why we have trouble finding people to fill jobs. The gap between our great credit rating and how we take care of, and provide adequate housing for, hard-working folks in our community seems vast.
Hilton Head citizens do a lot to provide food for the poor. Our various food pantries do their best to fill that gap, but it is not enough. We provide free shuttle service in various areas on the island, but how does that help the people who work in the restaurants, clean the houses, work in the hotels — and then leave the island for home? We have a serious problem here, and it is not getting any better.
The Bible tell us that we have a duty to help the poor in our midst. “He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God” (Proverbs 14:31).
People who face those kind of economics usually do their best to find other places to work and live. Why should they travel, sometimes two hours each way, for a below-minimum wage scale?
But is this really about money and available housing for workers, or is it about businesses refusing to pay better or decent wages? Celebrate the credit rating, but know that it does little to make life better for teachers, frontline medical workers and other professions who cannot afford a decent apartment — let alone buy a place in the same community where they work.
From the Book of Leviticus, “If one of your countrymen becomes poor and sells some of his property, his nearest relative is to come and redeem what his countryman has sold. ... If one of your countrymen becomes poor and is unable to support himself among you, help him as you would an alien or a temporary resident, so he can continue to live among you.. ... If one of your countrymen becomes poor among you and sells himself to you, do not make him work as a slave” (Leviticus 25:25, 35, 39).
Is the problem here about wages, or is it about not wanting the working poor in our community?
Is the message, “we don’t want those kind of people living with us, and we don’t want to see our property values decline if we build more affordable housing?”
The issue of evictions of the working poor is front and center in our country. How do we place a value on shelter?
Isaiah said, “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter — when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood (Isaiah 58:6-7) ?
Hilton Head and Bluffton have so much to offer property owners and tourists. I am not so sure that the manual laborers and working professionals, such as teachers, are able to afford the basic necessities to live and prosper in our Garden of Eden.
There should be enough housing for them, too. Our financial credit rating is Triple A. What about our moral credit rating?