Hilton Head Island Rec programs at risk after Beaufort County axes funding. What now?

Youth sports fees could see a hike this year and senior programs through Hilton Head’s Island Recreation Center are at risk of being discontinued due to the Town of Hilton Head Island’s disagreement with Beaufort County over funding.

Swimming programs are safe, officials say, but a town committee on Tuesday preliminarily approved a $140,000 request from the Island Recreation Association to pay for operations after the funding was cut from Beaufort County’s budget.

Executive Director Frank Soule said Monday that the money will go to keeping fees low for youth and team sports and hosting virtual events for seniors through the association’s senior center.

The full Town Council will vote on the allocation next month.

But the potential loss of funding for the Island Rec Center is another consequence of the town and county’s back and forth over funding for the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, an increasingly volatile disagreement that began in November.

While the town has taken the county to court over a proposed fee for law enforcement, Mayor John McCann has used Island Recreation Association funding as a bargaining chip over the past year, along with maintenance for county-owned parks and roads. He proposed funding those projects instead of paying the county nearly $3 million each year for law enforcement.

Beaufort County has responded by cutting the lion’s share of its funding to the Island Rec Association and dropping maintenance on two county parks on the island.

The newest development is important because it shows how the town must again find money for programming its residents see as crucial to their quality of life. It also represents the latest in unintended effects of the town and county’s political fumblings surrounding Sheriff’s Office funding.

How will Hilton Head pay?

The town’s community services and public safety committee voted Monday to fund the $140,000 “hole” in the Island Recreation Association’s budget, which Assistant Town Manager Josh Gruber said was due to Beaufort County’s decision to strip the money this year.

Hilton Head will pay for the programming from the money it previously sent to the county for law enforcement services, finance committee chair Tom Lennox told The Island Packet.

Since the mayor stripped that $3 million payment earlier this year, Lennox said the town will use the extra money to fund the Island Recreation Association, park maintenance, site cleanup at the Planter’s Row golf course (which the town is eyeing for a park) and maintenance at Lowcountry Celebration Park on Pope Avenue.

Spending $140,000 on Island Rec programming will have “absolutely no impact on our budget,” Lennox said.

But as Gruber finds new destinations for the money McCann withheld last year, island residents are on the hook for changes to services they have come to expect — and perhaps a new fee.

In recent weeks, the town and county have exchanged threats. The county said it might close the island’s convenience center and stop county park maintenance.

The town has sued the county over a proposed user fee for law enforcement services that could cost island residents around $90 per year. Beaufort County Council approved the fee to fill the hole left in its budget when Hilton Head withheld its funding. Taxpayers are paying for that suit, which was filed by the town council’s attorney on retainer.

What’s next?

The Town Council will vote on funding for the Island Recreation Association at its Oct. 6 meeting.

Gruber said Tuesday that the town may have to build the funding for the association into its budget permanently if its relationship with Beaufort County stays contentious.

Soule said the county has contributed money toward youth and adult sports, programming and senior events since 1992.

“We’re certainly appreciative of the town stepping up to commit to the $140,000,” he said, acknowledging the change in how the association will get public money over the long term.

This story was originally published September 28, 2020 at 3:37 PM.