After transparency concerns, Hilton Head OKs new process for awarding funds to nonprofits
After criticism over a lack of transparency, the town of Hilton Head Island has established a new way to publicly award taxpayer money from the town’s general fund to local businesses and nonprofits.
The Town Council in early October approved a total of $350,000 in grants to the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina and Concours d’Elegance, two island organizations deeply scarred by the coronavirus pandemic.
Council members, at the time, said both organizations were crucial to keep on the island to support its economy.
But the lack of a public process to apply for the funding — and the allocation of money from the general fund, not tourism taxes — raised questions about the transparency of such grants.
In the case of the Arts Center, CEO Jeffrey Reeves said he sent a letter to then-Town Manager Steve Riley asking for money, and the town obliged.
For Concours d’Elegance, Chairman Merry Harlacher said he met with Riley and Ward 2 representative Bill Harkins twice before the council’s finance committee discussed the matter.
“We do ourselves a disservice when the public perceives that we have taken shortcuts,” said Ward 3 representative David Ames.
Now, though, the council has approved a formal process through which island organizations can apply for general fund money.
Organizations must submit an application for such funds during the town’s annual budget process, the council decided in a 7-0 vote Thursday.
Applications must contain copies of audited financial statements, among other things.
The finance committee will review the annual applications and select organizations to make presentations about their funding requests.
The committee will later send recommendations to the Town Council on which applications to approve.
“Any requests for funding made outside of the annual fiscal budget adoption process should be discouraged and the granting of funding outside of this process should be limited to only extraordinary circumstances,” town staff recommended.
Who gets money from the general fund now?
The town on Thursday also listed the organizations that will receive money from the general fund in fiscal year 2022 via annual contracts to provide public services (the contracts are not emergency grants like those approved for the Arts Center and Concours d’Elegance):
Island Recreation Association: $1,087,578 for managing special-event rentals of some town-owned properties and offering youth and adult rec programs on town- and Beaufort County-owned property
Coastal Discovery Museum: $180,000 for operating Honey Horn Plantation and supporting the Mitchelville Freedom Park
University of South Carolina Beaufort Island Ambassador Program: $186,367 for the program
Palmetto Breeze: $225,165 in local matching funds for the town’s urban and rural federal transportation grant funding
Solicitor/court services: $168,500 for criminal prosecution and other judicial services related to offenses on Hilton Head
Beaufort County Economic Development Corporation: $25,000 to participate in the BCEDC
