The North Myrtle Beach
City Council held its FY 2021 budget retreat meeting February 24-25 at Santee
Cooper’s Wampee Conference Center.
The City’s fiscal year
is July 1-June 30.
The proposed budget
involves 17 separate funds with significant interrelations and transfers
between the various funds.
The proposed FY 2021
budget is about $119 million, an increase of about $27 million over the FY 2020
budget.
The budget proposes a property
tax increase of about 7.9 mils, most of which would go toward funding an
expansion of the North Myrtle Beach Park & Sports Complex. The proposed tax
millage increase equates to a $79 property tax increase on a $250,000
owner-occupied home and 50% more on a nonresidential property of equal value.
In 2019, using a
short-term loan, the City paid $4.2 million for the purchase of 96 acres
adjacent to the existing 162-acre Park & Sports Complex. Part of the
revenue generated by the proposed 7.9 mils increase would pay off the
short-term loan, the rest would fund payments on a multi-year bond issue for
construction of six new ballfields, seven soccer/lacrosse fields, a family
entertainment center, a possible water-play area, and more.
Staff introduced the
expansion project and its currently projected cost of about $25 million to City
Council at the budget retreat in order to get a feel for Council’s appetite for
the project. Council liked the project and the positive financial and quality
of life impacts it offers North Myrtle Beach. City management will now move
toward getting more precise figures on costs for each element within the
project, enabling City Council to come to a better understanding of whether to
bond all of the proposed improvements at one time, do key elements now and save
some for the future, or do some of the proposed amenities but not others.
City Council has
indicated that the proposed millage increase of 7.9 mils could decrease by the
same amount after retiring the bond. Council took that approach with the
millage increase that helped fund the original Park & Sports Complex.
The City’s current
property tax rate is 37.1 mils. For the current budget year, City Council
reduced its millage rate by 6.1 mils to reflect the end of the eight-year bond
issue with which the City purchased 162 acres and constructed the original Park
& Sports Complex. If the proposed 7.9 mils increase is adopted, the City’s
new property tax rate would be 45 mils, still one of the lowest in Horry County
and South Carolina for a full-service city.
Since opening in March
2014, the Park & Sports Complex generated over $100 million in new, direct
revenue for the North Myrtle Beach economy, primarily in the off-season. The
facility has attracted over two million visitors. The expanded facility would
enable the City to compete for and host larger sports tourism events, and host
multiple events simultaneously. It would also position the City to provide
continued opportunities for its growing youth and adult recreation leagues, and
add increased entertainment, festival, special events and other opportunities
for residents and visitors alike.
The proposed budget
includes construction of the 18th Avenue North Ocean Outfall beginning in fall
2020. Construction would occur over two years in the fall, winter and early
spring months. While other outfalls were funded through a bond issue, the City
delayed this new outfall by a couple of years in order to accomplish the
estimated $14 million project ($12 million City and $2 million state) without
borrowing funds. Smaller storm water drainage projects are also included in the
proposed budget.
The proposed budget
includes initial funding for an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and a Data
Management Center (DMC) on the west side of the Intracoastal Waterway. These
facilities would be constructed in phases over a couple of years and would
share a site with a new fire station, the latter coming on line several years
from now to serve development in the city limits on the west side of the
Intracoastal Waterway.
The EOC would provide
the City with a secure, centralized facility from which to manage severe
impacts to North Myrtle Beach from Category 3 and stronger hurricanes.
Currently, the City does not have emergency operations capabilities west of the
Waterway.
The DMC would provide
the City with added redundancy and a secure location from which to continue to
run the City in the event a major hurricane or other disaster compromised
infrastructure located east of the Waterway.
The proposed budget
includes funding to help establish a free June 15-August 15 Coast RTA bus route
in North Myrtle Beach, utilizing two buses that offer residents and visitors
the opportunity to park their cars and ride to multiple locations along Highway
17 and Ocean Boulevard.
Coast RTA will also
established a paid bus route that continues bus travel into North Myrtle Beach
as part of a route that currently ends in Myrtle Beach. The service, which
would begin in October, would have multiple stops in the city.
For both offerings,
Coast RTA offers an App that shows where its buses are and when they will
arrive at specific locations.
Coast RTA, the City, the
North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce and others will promote both bus
services when they are finalized.
Equipment replacement
for departments continues on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Under the proposed
budget, the year-end balance for the General Fund would be about $12.5 million,
above the 35% fund balance policy.
Funding for Beach
Renourishment will come from state accommodations tax funds. The City sets
aside funding each year to ensure its ability to participate in the major
federal beach renourishment program that occurs every 10 years or so.
The proposed budget
projects Beach Services showing a profit and net equity in excess of $1.2
million at the close of the FY 2021 budget cycle.
The employee
Pay-for-Performance matrix remains the same as for FY 2020.
General Obligation debt
remains at $0 until issuance of the proposed Park Improvement Bonds occurs.
City Council discussed the possibility of
initiating a long-term focus on public art for City parks and other public
areas. Council members instructed the planning department to assess what other
cities of similar size have accomplished in this regard and to report back to
them.
