Sorry, Hilton Head. $167 police charge on your tax bill is legal, court says
A lengthy legal battle over how much Hilton Head Island residents should pay the county for police services has come to an end.
For nearly six years, the Town of Hilton Head Island has been fighting Beaufort County in court over the charge that appears on Hilton Head property owner’s annual tax bills.
Called the Hilton Head Island Uniform Service Fee, the fee is used to pay for law enforcement patrols and responses through the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
Town leaders have argued that the fee violates state law and that Hilton Head property owners are paying twice for policing: once through their regular property taxes and again through the extra fee. The county, on the other hand, has contended that Hilton Head Island taxpayers pay the same as those in other municipalities, which pay county taxes and local taxes for their own police departments.
The case was heard by the South Carolina Supreme Court last month. In an opinion filed Wednesday, the South Carolina Supreme Court affirmed a lower court’s decision to uphold the fee, meaning Hilton Head taxpayers will continue to pay.
“BCSO assigns many officers to patrol and respond to every single call for policing services in Hilton Head,” justices wrote in the opinion. “Comparatively, in every other incorporated municipality in Beaufort County — which fund and staff their own municipal police departments — the BCSO responds to, on average, less than 12% of the calls for policing service ... In our view, that discrepancy speaks volumes to the enhanced level of service that BCSO provides for Hilton Head and its residents.”
Justices also noted that the money collected from the fee is held in a separate fund and used only to pay BCSO for the policing services it provides to Hilton Head.
How much is the HHI police fee?
Because the court’s decision was unanimous, it’s unlikely that the town will file a petition for reconsideration, Hilton Head Island Town Attorney Curtis Coltrane told The Packet.
“Obviously, I’m disappointed with the result,” Coltrane said. “There isn’t much beyond that you can say.”
Beaufort County Council Chair Alice Howard said she thinks the court made the “right decision.”
“We’re very pleased about it,” Howard said.
She said that she hopes the county will continue to have a “good relationship” with the town moving forward.
As of 2026, fee is currently $167 for single family homes and $121 for multifamily homes, according to the county’s website. Commercial property owners pay between $48 to $287 per 1,000 square feet, depending on the type of property. Hotels pay $81 per room.
Tensions between Hilton Head and Beaufort County
Tensions between Hilton Head and Beaufort County over how much the town should pay for police services dates back several years. Hilton Head Island used to pay $3.6 million to the county annually for law enforcement, according to previous Island Packet reporting.
In November 2019, former Hilton Head Island Mayor John McCann threatened to strip that payment, arguing that Hilton Head property owners already paid for law enforcement services through their taxes to the county. He argued island residents were only getting “minimal” services from the sheriff’s offices, yet paying more than other municipalities, previous Island Packet reporting says.
Eventually the council agreed to reduce the payment to $2 million in July 2020. But the county argued it cost about $4.4 million per year to police Hilton Head.
The county responded by levying a special tax against Hilton Head property owners for police services to make up the difference. In response, the town filed suit in September 2020, calling the extra fee “unconstitutional.” Officials launched a “we already pay” campaign with a website and YouTube videos to announce their fight to take down the fee.
“This fight is not against the sheriff, but rather it’s a dialogue between us and the Beaufort County,” McCann told residents in a YouTube video. “What we’re doing is to make sure that our owners do not have to pay more fees on top of what they already pay for law enforcement.”
The Island Packet has submitted a Freedom of Information Act Request for the total sum of legal fees the town has paid related to the police fee case.
In a 2020 article, Beaufort County Council Member Joe Passiment compared the dispute between the two governments to a “family feud.”
“We’re all one big happy family,” Passiment previously the Packet. “We just happen to disagree on who pays for the police services.”
