Highest-paid Hilton Head employee receives 4% raise, $25k bonus
Hilton Head’s highest-paid employee received a salary boost last month following a closed-door evaluation, sparking concerns about transparency from some residents.
At a Nov. 4 meeting of the Hilton Head Town Council, Town Manager Marc Orlando received a 4% raise and a $25,000 bonus with a 6-0 vote. His contract was extended through Feb. 21, 2031.
Prior to the vote, council members privately discussed Orlando’s performance during executive session, a portion of the meeting which is closed to the public.
The move has led some residents to ask for greater transparency from the Hilton Head town government in decisions about the salaries of public officials.
Orlando has served as Hilton Head’s town manager since 2021. He oversees a staff of 284 full-time employees, 16 part-time employees and 10 seasonal employees.
According to previous Island Packet reporting, Orlando’s salary was $210,000 as of December 2023, making him the highest-paid employee and the only employee to make more than $200,000.
His next-in-command, Assistant Town Manager Shawn Colin, made $177,118 in 2023. Colin left the town earlier this year for a position with Sea Pines Community Services Associates.
The Island Packet reached out to town representatives to ask for Orlando’s current salary but did not hear back in time for publication.
What happened at the meeting?
On the evening of Nov. 4, council members were in executive session for three and a half hours.
They discussed several items, including property purchase negotiations, appointments to the Land Management Ordinance Task Force and the town’s contract for a Destination Marketing Organization, long held by the Chamber of Commerce.
After the council returned from executive session, Ward 1 Council Member Alex Brown made a motion to approve Orlando’s new contract, reading out the proposed raise and bonus.
Hilton Head Mayor Alan Perry opened the floor for comments from the public, but no one spoke.
Perry also asked the council if they wanted to discuss Orlando’s contract; again, no one spoke.
The mayor decided to say a few words of his own: “We are very lucky to have that man at the end of this dais.”
The council voted 6-0 to approve Orlando’s contract, and adjourned the meeting.
Why wasn’t the discussion public?
The South Carolina Freedom of Information Act Section 30-4-70(a)(1) allows public bodies to discuss matters related to the hiring, firing, appointment, compensation, promotion, demotion or discipline of an employee behind closed doors.
The law does not require these discussions to be private; it simply gives public bodies permission to do so.
However, it’s rare for public bodies to choose to discuss personnel matters publicly.
Ward 5 council member Steve Alfred said he’s “not aware of any place where personnel discussions are public.”
“It’s not a good business practice,” Alfred said. “You can embarrass the employee.”
The town manager is evaluated by the council every year, Alfred said. The town’s human resources director writes a “very lengthy” questionnaire, which council members fill out and discuss during executive sessions.
Alfred said Orlando “ranks high in almost every single category that we would evaluate him on.”
“I think he’s doing an absolutely outstanding job,” Alfred said. “He is extremely talented, very resourceful, very creative [and] follows through very well.”
Beyond Orlando’s accomplishments, Alfred noted that the council also has to consider what kinds of salaries and bonuses other employers are offering to people in “comparable positions.”
“The council would be extremely upset if we lost him,” Alfred said.
This story has been updated to reflect the fact that Shawn Colin is no longer employed with the Town of Hilton Head.
This story was originally published December 12, 2025 at 9:11 AM.
