Grinch who stole Rock Hill’s Christmasville funding? Leaders will have answer soon

Organizers for Rock Hill’s annual Christmas celebration may have less money in their coffers by the end of this month.

The York County Council voted Tuesday to scrutinize whether ChristmasVille should receive hospitality tax funding.

Council voted two weeks ago to award the popular event less than $11,000 for marketing purposes.

County council member Chad Williams said Tuesday he didn’t want the county to become a funding source for successful, self-sustaining events.

“I want to set the tone for the future and set a precedent,” Williams said. “You don’t need to fund stuff that’s self-sustaining and making money.”

Hospitality tax money comes from a 2 percent charge on prepared food and drink in unincorporated areas of the county, including restaurants in Lake Wylie and Fort Mill such as Carowinds and Baxter. About $2 million comes in annually. Revenue must be spent on projects promoting tourism.

The money can only pay up to half of marketing or advertising costs, and isn’t designed to entirely fund groups.

Losing that funding source would hurt ChristmasVille’s effort to attract newcomers, said James “Toy” Rhea III, chair of the ChristmasVille Board of Governors.

Rhea argued successful events, such as York’s Summerfest, have as much right to hospitality tax dollars as events that are starting up.

Festivals and events such as Rock Hill’s Come-See-Me, Summerfest and Fort Mill Community Playhouse all saw funding requests denied on Aug. 21.

City officials saw ChristmasVille created about $2.6 million in total economic impact and attracted 75,000 visitors.

“From a hospitality tax standpoint, that’s what this money should be used for, is the events putting the impact on the community,” Rhea said. “All of them -- Summerfest, ChristmasVille, Come-See-Me. It’s in the council’s hands now.”

Last month, York County Council voted to deny funding for Lake Wylie Visitor Center, run by Lake Wylie Chamber of Commerce. For several years the center asked for and received hospitality tax funding, despite concerns raised a year ago before the $50,000 allotment.

Some local groups had heard the county’s statements as far back as three years ago that they would be, as Johnson called it, “turning off the spigot.” The South Carolina Strawberry Festival in Fort Mill received tax funding for several years, but didn’t apply this year.

Council leaders will next take up the issue at the next regularly-scheduled meeting Sept. 18.

This story was originally published September 7, 2017 at 2:49 PM with the headline "Grinch who stole Rock Hill’s Christmasville funding? Leaders will have answer soon."