Attorneys for Horry County and Myrtle Beach met at 9 a.m. this morning at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center and began mediating their clients’ dispute over hospitality fees.
Judge William Seals appointed attorney Karl Folkens to serve as mediator in the case and Folkens’ fees will be split between the local governments.
Offers made by Horry County Council include having the county set aside $18 million annually of the 1.5% tax collections, off the top, to pay for I-73.
In April, the City of Myrtle Beach, instead passed its own 2% tax, offering to contribute a matching $7.5 million to numbers they wish to insist Horry County should put up from whatever monies the county can collect.
As the tax stands, Horry County can only collect the 1.5% tax in the unincorporated areas that include: Garden City Beach, Carolina Forest, Socastee, and rural Horry County.
If Horry County’s offer is accepted, and the tax stands as is, local Horry County residents will pay 72% of the interstate’s annual costs.
330,000 ATM machines
Local writer, Paul Gable, recently posted that the City of Myrtle Beach and the tourism lobby view Horry County residents as 330,000 atm machines leveraged to fund pet projects the city wants done.
MyrtleBeachSC news will alert its viewers as to the outcome of these Hospitality fees mediations.