Let’s Fight to Keep Control Over Our Local Hospitality and Accommodation Taxes

In the past few months Taxation Realignment Committee (TRAC) , a Committee appointed by various State Senators, has recommended that Tourism Expenditure Review Committee (TERC) have oversight responsibility over local ATAX and hospitality taxes as well. Local ATAX and hospitality taxes are statutorily limited to promoting tourism. TRAC stated there have been considerable media reports that local governments have been using local ATAX and hospitality taxes to balance their budgets and other non-tourism uses. This may be true with some municipalities, but certainly not true of all. Folly Beach is audited annually by external auditors and have always been found to be compliant. To give TERC oversight of our local hospitality and a-tax fund is ludicrous and unnecessary.
These funds are important to all communities. For example, Folly Beach uses these funds to pay certain percentages of various tourist-related services, i.e., public safety and public works, as well as, web sites, recreational areas, and any other items which promote tourism. Folly Beach is a tourist destination and as such these funds help pay for the badly needed public safety and public works support we need.
Tourism means different things to different communities. Local leaders should be allowed to continue to decide how these funds should be allocated based on their local priorities. One city may see ball fields as a way to attract tourists, while another may anchor its tourism efforts through a historic downtown or building while others have natural amenities such as beaches or rivers to draw from. A one-size fits all state formula with oversight by a non-elected body in Columbia doesn’t make sense. There is no way individuals sitting on a Board and living in Columbia can possibly know what the City of Folly Beach needs. Just as the City of Folly Beach has no idea what Isle of Palms or Sullivan Island needs. Local officials represent the citizens in our town and know better than anyone what should be funded. All requests for expenditures are brought before the A-Tax Advisory Board for its recommendation to Council for its approval. With this process, you have more oversight by individuals with a better understanding of the community than you could possibly have with a Board in Columbia consisting of business people from all over the state.
Sample Letter for Taxes
Talking Points for TRAC Tourism