Hilton Head doles out $4.5M of tourism tax dollars. Here’s who didn’t get a dime
Thirty-two organizations will split over $4.5 million in accommodations tax money that tourists paid when they visited Hilton Head Island in 2019.
The biggest recipients of the 2020 A-TAX grants?
The Town of Hilton Head Island and the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce, which received $1,346,941, and $575,000, respectively.
A-TAX is dubbed the “tourist tax” because it’s charged for any hotel room rental on the island, so a majority of the $4.5 million comes from visitors.
By state law, 30 percent of all A-TAX revenue must go to the town’s Designated Marketing Organization, a job Hilton Head leaders voted this month to award to the chamber again after a year of uncertainty over the organization’s lack of accountability to local governments.
Organizations can apply for an A-TAX grant if the organization can prove it serves tourists.
Each year, the accommodations tax advisory committee reviews the applications and recommends how to split up the grant money. The Town Council then adjusts those figures and awards the “tourist tax” funds.
Where the money will go
Here are the applicants who will receive full funding based on the applications’ requests:
- Art League of Hilton Head: $65,000, the same as last year.
- Lowcountry Golf Course Owners Association: $50,000, the same as last year.
- Mitchelville Preservation Project: $185,000, which is $12,500 more than last year.
- The Boys & Girls and Club of Hilton Head Island: $22,000, which is $2,000 more than last year.
- The Sandbox: $54,500, which is $8,605 more than last year.
Where the money won’t go
Two applications did not receive tax money.
Here’s who didn’t get any A-TAX funding for 2020 and the committee’s explanation:
- 12 Jewels of Life: Not enough of an economic driver to tourism, should aim for “6 successful comedy events” and grow tourist attendance to be considered.
- Lowcountry Gullah: Not able to secure proof that the organization is a nonprofit.
According to A-TAX grant request records, neither of those organizations applied for an A-TAX grant last year.
Chamber’s marketing plan gets approval
After approving the A-TAX grant recommendations — which included an award of $575,000 to the island chamber — council members also approved the chamber’s yearly marketing plan for how it will spend an additional 30 percent of A-TAX revenue it automatically receives as the designated marketing organization.
The marketing plan has non-specific budget lines and high spending on items such as “social media” and “leisure fulfillment,” The Island Packet has previously reported.
When council first discussed the marketing plan in 2018, former Mayor David Bennett tried to force the chamber to give quarterly reports of how it spends the nearly $2 million in A-TAX funds.
Then the finance and administrative committee scrapped the five-year agreement with the chamber and voted to look for new applicants to be the designated marketing organization.
This fall, when only two organizations applied for the contract, the finance committee handed it back to the chamber — although no contract has been negotiated. Town council members voted unanimously to give the chamber the five-year marketing position again.
Town council will vote for a final time on the marketing job in January. After that, finance committee chair Tom Lennox said the town and chamber officials will meet to decide terms of the new contract. Whether that contract will include additional transparency measures remains to be seen.
The wrangling over who will do the town’s marketing comes after Beaufort County Council members called out the chamber in October for “illegally” hiding how it spends taxpayer money.
Council members Mike Covert, Chris Hervochon and Brian Flewelling wrote chamber officials that Beaufort County leaders are stewards of the public’s money and de facto members of the chamber because the county is a member of the organization. Therefore, they wrote, they have the right to see how the chamber is spending public money.
To continually have to ask the chamber for this information, Covert said, “is certainly out of line and not appropriate.”
How other grant applications fared
The rest of the 32 applicants for tourism tax money fall somewhere in the middle — they got some money, but not all they asked for.
When the town council voted on the allocations earlier this month, Ward 5 representative Tom Lennox amended the awards from the ATAX committee to add $11,000 to the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina, $17,000 to Hilton Head Concours d’Elegance, $10,000 to the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra and $5,000 to the Hilton Head Wine and Food Festival.
He suggested taking those funds from the town’s allocation, which is around $1.3 million. The council unanimously approved those changes.
These organizations received the same amount of A-TAX funding as last year:
- Gullah Museum of Hilton Head Island: $55,000
- Harbour Town Merchants Association: $21,000
- Hilton Head Choral Society: $40,000
- Hilton Head Dance Theater: $15,000
- Hilton Head Recreation Association Wingfest and Oyster Festival: $25,000
- Lowcountry Golf Course Owners Association: $50,000
- Shelter Cove Harbour Company: $80,000
- First Tee of the Lowcountry: $25,000
These organizations got more than they received last year:
Arts Center of Coastal Carolina: $406,000 ($6,000 more)
- David M. Carmines Memorial Fund: $115,000 ($15,000 more)
- Hilton Head Concours d’Elegance: $282,000 ($32,000 more)
- Hilton Head Island Airport: $90,000 ($41,000 more of A-TAX). The mayor allocated an additional $40,000 to the airport last year from the town’s general fund, bringing its grant to $80,000.
- Hilton Head Island Bridge Association: $25,000 ($5,000 more)
- Hilton Head St. Patrick’s Day parade: $22,000 ($2,000 more)
Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra: $260,000 ($10,000 more)
Hilton Head Island - Bluffton Chamber of Commerce: $575,000 ($40,000 more)
Lean Ensemble: $35,000 ($5,000 more)
Main Street Youth Theater: $17,000 ($2,000 more)
Mitchelville Preservation Project: $185,000 ($12,500 more)
Native Island Business Community: $125,000 ($5,000 more)
- Skull Creek July 4th Celebration: $21,000 ($3,263 more)
- The Boys & Girls Club of Hilton Head Island: $22,000 ($2,000 more)
- The Coastal Discovery Museum: $297,500 ($12,500 more)
- The Heritage Library: $115,000 ($57,000 more)
- The Outside Foundation: $54,500 ($8,605 more)
These organizations received less than last year:
Hilton Head Wine and Food: $125,000 ($5,000 less)
Town of Hilton Head Island: $1,346,941 ($43,000 less)
These organizations received partial funding this year but did not apply last year:
- Hilton Had Audubon Society: $3,600
- Hilton Head Disc Golf: $20,000
- Hilton Head Island Land Trust: $15,000
- Coastal Discovery Museum Lowcountry Fair: $5,000
