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At last night’s NAACP Mayoral Debate, Mayor Brenda Bethune stated she had the “official facts” on all things Myrtle Beach.
Bethune later went on to say that tax records proved Mayoral Candidate Gene Ho lives in Prestwick (outside of the city limits) per his primary tax deduction status.
For reasons unknown to this news agency, Mayor Bethune refused to reach out to the Horry County Treasurer’s office to confirm Ho’s primary living status before making those statements.
She either chose to be willfully misinformed, or was intentionally negligent in those statements.
We reached out to Mayor Bethune repeatedly for her comments after we received the below from Angie Jones, Treasurer, as well as, Horry County Assessor Larry Roscoe, who provided official Horry County records.
Mayor Bethune did not respond to our repeated requests.
Treasurer Jones’ Response
| Looking at the tax records it looks like Mr. Ho received the primary residence discount on the home located at 2024 Ayershire Ln. The 2021 taxes are based on his residency as of 12/31/2020. Taxes are billed prior year not current year. If Mr. Ho moved in 2021 that will not be reflected until 2022 and he would be entitled to the 4% at Ayershire Ln for 2021. I will copy the Assessor on this to see if he can confirm whether the property will be at 6% for the 2022 taxes at Ayershire Ln.Thanks and let me know if I can further assist you. Angie Jones, DBA | Horry County Treasurer Horry County Government Horry County Treasurer 1301 2nd Ave Ste 1C13, Conway, South Carolina 29526 Tel 843.915.8677| Fax 843.915.6470 | [email protected] www.horrycounty.org |
Larry Roscoe – Assessor’s Confirmation
On Fri, Oct 22, 2021 at 12:47 PM Roscoe, Larry <[email protected]> wrote:
Angie, you are correct. Mr. Ho’s [Prestwick] property is listed at non resident rates for the 2022 tax billing.
It took our news team 15 minutes to clarify this.
As Mayor Of Myrtle Beach, why Brenda Bethune could not take the 15 minutes necessary to be accurate with her statements above shows an ongoing pattern that should cause concerns to Myrtle Beach residents.
Her refusal to respond to our multiple requests has been another ongoing pattern demonstrating a lack of transparency. Per recent mailings, Mayor Bethune claims transparency to be a hallmark of her administration.
We have experienced just the opposite. A lack of transparency when questions are asked of the mayor are more to the norm of how this incumbent operates.
Residents can hear Mayor Brenda Bethune’s statements on the short 26 second video above.
Mr. Ho did live in his Prestwick home in 2020, while his Myrtle Beach address was being renovated. Records show that the Prestwick home is now being rented by Mr. Ho.