How much did Hilton Head collect in first year of new parking fees?
Hilton Head Island collected more than three-quarters of a million dollars in parking fees since launching seasonal paid beach parking last year.
But town officials say the revenue is only enough to pay for the program itself.
From March 2025 through January 2026, the town collected $771,101 in parking fees, according to data shared by town spokesperson Carolyn Grant. The money has gone toward the fees charged by Parking Control Inc., the town’s contracted vendor that manages the parking payment system, the town says.
Those costs include personnel and benefits, vehicle expenses like fuel and insurance, as well as software and equipment maintenance.
Town officials say the fees collected so far do not exceed the cost of running the program. In the current fiscal year — which runs from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026 — the program was anticipated to cost $650,000, according to the budget. Without a month by month breakdown of the parking fee revenues, it is unclear how much the program yielded during the fiscal year.
The town also budgeted for a new, full-time Parking Program Manager at a $108,000 salary.
The goal, officials said, is not to have another revenue stream “for the sake of doing so,” but to cover the cost of the program and improvements to town-owned beach parks. Less than 1% of the town’s overall revenue comes from parking fees, according to the budget; the system also gives the town the ability to enforce parking violations as opposed to law enforcement.
This will be the second beach season with parking fees on several of the island’s public beaches. From now until the season ends Sept. 7, non-residential drivers will pay $3 per hour Mondays through Fridays; on weekends, the rate shifts to $5 per hour.
Fees will be enforced from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Alder Lane, Driessen, Fish Haul, Folly Field and Islanders beach parks. Paid parking at Chaplin Community Park at Burkes Beach will start later, on May 18. Parking at Coligny Beach Park remains free.
