Chamber, arts center leads recipients of Hilton Head Island accommodations tax grants
Marketing efforts for Hilton Head Island's golf courses and programming at the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina were among the biggest accommodations tax grants issued this year by town officials.
The town will dole out more than $2.1 million to more than two dozen local groups in 2016, and another almost $1.3 million will stay with the town. The money is collected on overnight lodging from visitors.
The arts center and Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce received the biggest grants this year:
- $396,000 will go to promoting the arts center's programs and helping pay for its theater and community festivals, but not for maintenance of the facility.
- $385,000 will be used to market Hilton Head Island for corporate meetings, create an online community calendar and promote the island's golf courses with the Lowcountry Golf Course Owners Association
Other grants will go to a roster of repeat grant recipients, including the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, Hilton Head Island Concours d'Elegance, The Coastal Discovery Museum and the Native Island Business & Community Affairs Association.
The town will use its $1.3 million for bike paths, park maintenance and police services from the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office.
Town Council members unanimously and enthusiastically endorsed the grant awards at their meeting this week without even a discussion -- in stark contrast to the debate-riddled and hours-long discussion over grants last year.
That's the result of a series of changes and new rules to the way groups apply for grants from the town's Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee, Mayor David Bennett said.
This year the committee added more particular questions on the application form about each organization's non-profit history, data on the number of tourists each serves and return-on-investment measures for past grants, committee chairman Mike Alsko has said. Committee members grilled applicants on those questions in two, full-day sessions of interviews and produced a detailed 16-page report on its recommendations.
"That produced better quality applications," Bennett said Friday. "They asked higher level questions and got higher level answers ... (Compared to last year) I'll take that every day of the week."
Visualizing the grants
Small-screen users: Tap and drag to view entire graph. Tap or click pie wedges for details. Raw data follows.
Source: Town of Hilton Head Island
| Group | Grant Amount |
|---|---|
| Arts Center of Hilton Head Island | $396,000 |
| Hilton Head Choral Society | $35,500 |
| Hilton Head Concours d’Elegance | $165,000 |
| HHI Recreation Association (Wing/Oyster Fests) | $15,000 |
| HHI Wine and Food, Inc. | $130,000 |
| HHI Chamber and VCB | $385,000 |
| Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra | $230,000 |
| Lowcountry Golf Course Owners Assoc. | $50,000 |
| Shelter Cove Harbour Company | $54,900 |
| The Coastal Discovery Museum | $239,340 |
| The Heritage Library – History Day | $9,100 |
| The Sandbox | $49,600 |
| D.M. Carmines Memorial Foundation Seafood Festival | $10,000 |
| Gullah Museum of Hilton Head Island | $30,000 |
| Harbour Town Merchants Association | $12,000 |
| Hilton Head Dance Theater | $15,000 |
| Main Street Youth Theater | $15,000 |
| Mitchelville Preservation Project | $40,000 |
| Native Island Business & Community | $110,000 |
| Skull Creek July 4th Celebration | $12,000 |
| Art League of Hilton Head Island | $55,000 |
| HHI St. Patrick’s Day Parade | $14,740 |
| Memory Matters | $12,000 |
| MLK Jr. Celebration | $1,660 |
| The Heritage Library | $49,606 |
| Total | $2,136,446 |
Follow reporter Zach Murdock on Twitter at twitter.com/IPBG_Zach and on Facebook at facebook.com/IPBGZach.
Related content:
- Town leaders narrowly approve contract with chamber of commerce Tuesday night, Nov. 17, 2015
- Chamber of commerce contract would give Hilton Head Island new oversight of public dollars, Nov. 6, 2015
- Hilton Head Island chamber of commerce, local golf clubs seek big push to attract new players, Oct. 22, 2015
- Release of contract with Hilton Head chamber delayed; negotiations continue in secret, Oct. 18, 2015
- As chamber of commerce contract nears completion, Skip Hoagland brings supporters to Town Council, Oct. 6, 2015
- Hilton Head Mayor David Bennett calls out chamber of commerce, critics over contract controversy, Sept. 29, 2015
This story was originally published December 18, 2015 at 5:21 PM with the headline "Chamber, arts center leads recipients of Hilton Head Island accommodations tax grants."