On Tuesday, June 13, 2017, Myrtle Beach City Council will make Motion M2017-77 and then quickly approve it. The motion will likely be unanimously approved.
Motion M2017-77 is an ordinance that abdicates all of Myrtle Beach city government’s spending responsibility for approximately $30 million in taxes collected from locals and visiting tourists who make purchases inside the city limits of Myrtle Beach.
These millions are then handed over to Brad Dean of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber.
The Myrtle Beach Area Chamber, to date, has been given complete spending authority of now over $176 million. Who audits this spending? By law, the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber audits itself.
At last week’s County Council Meeting, county resident Rich Malzone, suggested that before any further dollars are given to the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber, a professional audit should be done.
Last Thursday, we asked the Mayor and the above 3 city councilman, up for re-election:
- What City, County, Grand Strand Area, or State entity would be harmed by an impartial forensic audit on the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber concerning the past $176 million we have paid them before additional tax dollars are granted?
- If none, what reasons do you each of you pose for not having one?
We never heard from any of the above.
Once Motion M2017-77 is passed, the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber will then use these funds to drive traffic to their VisitMyrtleBeach.com website. Local hotels and business owners will then be each charged from 75 cents to $1.75 cents per click to have some of that traffic driven to their companies’ websites.
Where do these millions in pay per click fees collected from private, local businesses go? Back to the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber’s general fund. What does the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce do with those tax payer driven fees? No one asks, and no public impartial audit is done. The Chamber, once again, self audits.
How successful has the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber been in bringing new tourists to the city of Myrtle Beach itself (where the tax is collected)? These actual toilets flushed figures indicate fewer people have visited the past 3 years.
Through its associated membership PACs, the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce is expected to spend “whatever it takes” to get incumbents re-elected this coming November.
On Tuesday, it is likely that Motion M2017-77 will pass quickly and, hopefully, never be mentioned again.
However, look for our report on camera late Tuesday afternoon.