Bluffton doles out $284K in tourism tax dollars. Where’s the money going?
Three organizations will split over $284,000 in accommodations tax money paid by tourists who visited Bluffton in the first three months of 2020.
Earlier this week, the town of Bluffton agreed to fund three groups: the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce, the Bluffton Historical Preservation Society and the Society of Bluffton Artists.
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has largely kept people from traveling the past two months. As a result, the money typically generated from tourists has significantly dropped. This time last year, Bluffton doled out $535,950 to six different organizations, including $200,000 to the Hilton Head Island-Chamber of Commerce.
A-TAX, sometimes dubbed a “tourist tax,” is a tax on any hotel room or lodging, and is typically paid by visitors to the area.
Any organization can apply for A-TAX grants if it can prove the money will be used to serve tourists.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the town has not received ATAX funds from the state, so the amount of money the town can disperse this quarter — $866,283 — is significantly lower than previous years.
Bluffton leaders decided to disperse $82,000 to the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce; $190,000 to the Bluffton Historical Preservation Society; and $12,000 to the Society of Bluffton Artists.
As Bluffton’s Designated Marketing Organization, the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce receives 30% of state and up to 8% of local A-TAX funds received by the town.
How will the money be used?
To receive A-TAX grants, each organization must present to the town a plan for how the money will be used.
In its application for funds, the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce said it will use the money to reignite the town’s tourism industry, which has been hurt by the coronavirus pandemic.
The organization’s Visitor & Convention Bureau vice president, Ariana Pernice, said nationally, the tourism industry has lost $1.2 trillion due to the pandemic. Beaufort County, she said, has been seriously affected.
The chamber’s presentation said it will use a large percentage of the $82,000 to pay for targeted social media advertising. This includes tracking six groups of potential types of tourists or reasons to come to the area: families, snowbirds, sports enthusiasts, weekenders, arts and culture and culinary.
The advertisements will draw potential tourists to visit Bluffton’s “key areas of interest,” such as Palmetto Bluff, the Church of the Cross, the planned Wright Family Park, the Bluffton Oyster Company and the May River, Pernice said.
Even though Bluffton approved the funds, some council members said the marketing plan was too broad and wanted information about how the ads would specifically encourage people to visit Bluffton.
“My concern was that the way [the chamber] used their demographics, it didn’t appear that they were talking about Bluffton,” Bluffton Mayor Pro Tem Fred Hamilton said Thursday. “I know they advertise for Bluffton and Hilton Head, and I want to make sure that Bluffton was captured separately. I want them to give us a better presentation of what we offer in Bluffton and try to capture every community.”
Over the past several years, public officials and residents have argued that the chamber does not provide enough information on how tax money is being spent.
Last October, Beaufort County Council members criticized the chamber, saying it “illegally” hid 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.”
After the chamber’s presentation to Bluffton on Tuesday, Hamilton said he will ask town manager Marc Orlando for a more specific presentation.
The largest recipient of A-TAX funds, the Bluffton Historic Preservation Society, said it plans to use the $190,000 to support its welcome center at the Heyward House in Old Town Bluffton. The majority of the funds — $109,010 — will go toward the salaries and benefits of the group’ three staff members. The rest will be used for events, marketing, contract services and maintenance of the Heyward House.
The Society of Bluffton Artists, an art gallery based in Old Town Bluffton, plans to use its $12,000 for advertising and tourism.
