Hilton Head is in court over police fee. Why some see thousands in charges anyway
Although a lawsuit from the Town of Hilton Head Island over an extra Beaufort County police fee is still in court, island businesses looking at their draft tax bills online are being blindsided by police fees for tens of thousands of dollars.
The fee, which Beaufort County Council approved in August for Hilton Head residents and business owners, ranges from about $100 for single-family households to more than $67,000 for large commercial areas like Shelter Cove Towne Centre.
Beaufort County has yet to send out the official tax bills for 2020, which are over a month late, but recent fumbles by town and county leaders have caused confusion. Some residents have already paid for the year, based on the draft notices, and some businesses are unsettled by the possibility of having to pay thousands in extra fees in a year marred by the coronavirus pandemic.
Hilton Head Mayor John McCann offered little detail and no comfort during Tuesday’s Town Council meeting, where he shared vague details of a 1 1/4-hour meeting he had with county leaders on the issue.
“In my mind, it looks pretty sure that we’re going to court,” he said.
A resolution?
The only glimpse of a solution came from McCann’s tentative agreement with the county to pay extra to get the police fee taken off the tax bills.
“We will pay them some money that we put aside for the sheriff’s office budget with the understanding that the increased taxes will be taken off this year’s bill,” he said.
Reached Wednesday, McCann said the money the town put aside — which he estimates to be around $2 million — comes from the taxes residents paid last year, money that was budgeted to be paid to the county for Sheriff’s Office services. That money would go in escrow with the county until the town’s court case is resolved.
“It only costs us something if we lose the court case,” McCann told The Island Packet.
McCann said Tuesday that he hopes the tax gets taken off this year’s tardy tax bills before they are sent out, although it is already listed online.
“If (the county) can’t stop that bill from going out, see you in court,” he said.
Meanwhile, some island residents have reported receiving notice from their banks that 2020 property taxes have already been paid, meaning their money is in escrow, and they may be set up for dealing with of messy refunds down the road.
And businesses, many of which were closed for several weeks in the spring and have been hurt by the pandemic, are grappling with the uncertainty of the new fee based on their square footage, along with unwelcome pronouncements from the mayor.
On Tuesday, McCann said in a public meeting that tenants of an island shopping center were unable to pay their rent on time, that the center is facing a $100,000 police fee, and it may pass the fee onto the tenants in the shopping center.
“This bill to some of them may put them under water,” he said of the tenants.
But representatives of the Shelter Cove Towne Centre said they will fight the fee.
“This is a COVID year, and our tenants need all the help they can get. This police tax would add a 10% burden again this year,” Mark Senn, president of Southeastern Development, told The Island Packet.
Senn said taxes on the shopping center have already increased by around 10% each year for the past few years.
On the issue of tenants not paying rent on time, Senn said, “Unfortunately, it’s a true statement. I’m sorry that it was stated that way because we have very good retailers in there that do their best to pay.”
Behind closed doors
Despite Hilton Head residents and business owners’ need for information about where the sheriff’s fee stands, nearly all discussions about the fee have taken place behind closed doors. Mayor McCann said he and Assistant Town Manager Josh Gruber have been meeting with county representatives, and he’s given a few updates on developments in those sessions.
But even town leaders are in the dark on who is leading the negotiations and where the controversy stands.
“I have no idea who is in the room with the mayor when he’s having these conversations with the county, from our standpoint or the county’s,” Town Council member Alex Brown said. “My position on it is one of healing. I’m not in favor of us just snatching $4 million away from the county’s budget .... but I have no clarity on our attempt to trade off.”
When Brown asked for more information on the fee on Tuesday, McCann added a discussion on the matter to Wednesday’s special town council meeting in executive session.
While it’s customary for the government to discuss lawsuits and receive legal advice in executive session, the public has not received coherent updates on whether property owners must pay the sheriff’s office fee.
The normal due date for property taxes is Jan. 15, but Beaufort County has requested an extension.
This story was originally published December 3, 2020 at 4:30 AM.
