Here’s how York County aims to spend more than $450 million, and how to have your say
Most of the public conversation thus far on more than $450 million in York County finances for the coming year deals with a small fraction related to tourism.
The conversation could change June 2. That night, York County Council will hold a public hearing on the fiscal year 2021-22 budget. Final approval is set for June 7.
Some key points of the proposed budget include:
▪ The countywide tax rate doesn’t change.
▪ Unincorporated areas will see a slight tax rate increase to pay for fire service.
▪ There’s a 2.5% merit-based raise for employees.
▪ The financial equivalent of 16 full-time county positions outside of the sheriff’s office, about half the number requested, are recommended. Included are five firefighter jobs, a development coordinator, a public safety communications position, and a park attendant for Field Day Park.
▪ All six new positions requested by the York County Sheriff’s Office are recommended for approval.
▪ The recommended budget as of second reading is more than $465 million, up more than 10% from the current year. The increase comes from increased capital costs, notably the latest Pennies for Progress road construction. The operating budget at second reading actually is below last year’s budget figure. Before third and final reading county staff intends to transfer projected surplus general fund money to the capital projects fund for items included in the 10-year capital plan.
County staff believes the proposed budget serves county residents well.
“Our focus is always to provide the best value to the taxpayers,” said Assistant County Manager Kevin Madden.
Visit York County funding
A sticking point for the budget has been a relatively small but significant amount initially set for Visit York County. Council voted to take away $300,000 at second reading for use at other county parks or capital projects including Riverbend Park.
That 4-3 decision split council, with some seeing a cost savings and others a short-sighted move.
“This is a big tax savings to the public,” Councilman Tom Audette said at second reading. “This revenue would then be applied towards our parks, where we have capital expenditures we have to meet. It’s a win-win situation for the taxpayers.”
Chairwoman Christi Cox agreed, saying the use of hospitality tax — a charge on prepared food and drink in unincorporated areas — to create destinations like Riverbend is “something that smart parks departments do.” She compared the county to municipalities like Rock Hill and Fort Mill that use hospitality tax money for destinations, and accommodations tax (charge on overnight stays) for the visitor bureau.
“We’re not cutting their budget, in my mind,” Cox said, noting that private partnerships for Visit York County will keep its budget in line with recent years despite the $300,000 cut. “What we’re doing is we are looking out for the taxpayers.”
Councilman Joel Hamilton disagreed. He said many residents and businesses in the area rely on the efforts of Visit York County, and a funding cut shouldn’t be considered before the public hearing.
“And we’re not giving them the opportunity to come and speak, and describe how those efforts affect their business, affect their livelihoods and affect their family,” Hamilton said.
Visit York County generates a return on investment that park site themselves don’t, Hamilton argued. Developing Riverbend Park, county-owned property along the Catawba River, and other sites depends on an ability to market them and draw visitors. Riverbend will be paid for largely through hospitality tax money, something Visit York County can grow.
“To me the prospect is just, frankly, absurd,” Hamilton said.
Councilman Robert Winkler said Visit York County funding already has been cut several times in recent years, but the understanding was that the $300,000 would remain as its portion.
“We cut the budget, tell him that he needs to find other ways to do things, and then he does,” Winkler said. “And then we penalize him for finding other ways to do things.”
Winkler said it “makes absolutely no sense that we’re even discussing this” and that putting essentiall all hospitality tax revenue into Riverbend could be to the detriment of other parts of the county.
“Hopefully they’re all coming to Riverbend Park because that’s the only thing we’re going to say we spent any money on when we do this,” Winkler said.
Billy Dunlap, Visit York County president and CEO, saw county funding cut by $785,000 since he started in 2018. That’s before the $300,000 cut that came as a surprise during the ongoing budget talks. Dunlap created a partner program with hotels as one way to generate new revenue, part of the reason his coming fiscal year budget will be about $1.8 million compared to a 2018 pre-county cuts budget of $1.2 million.
Some on council believe that ability to bring in private money shows Visit York County doesn’t need as much public funding. Others say the cut feels like punishment for Dunlap’s success.
“I don’t want him to feel like we’re punishing him and his budget for doing so good,” said Councilman William “Bump” Roddey. “That’s not the message we want to send.”
Councilwoman Allison Love said it isn’t just Dunlap’s group that saw cuts the past few years. Hospitality tax money used to be spent largely on promotion, including advertising for community events and festivals. There’s been a paradigm shift toward larger sports and recreation sites.
“We’ve cut other things,” Love said. “We’ve cut home tours. We’ve cut marketing for people who can’t recover from that.”
Love said areas like Lake Wylie and Fort Mill are so full of people and traffic now, bringing in large new events isn’t always a positive. She understands Rock Hill with its many large sports sites, might look at the issue differently. Love said the money comes from unincorporated Fort Mill and Lake Wylie mostly, while Rock Hill and other municipalities have their own hospitality tax they can use if they want.
“I understand the need in Rock Hill,” Love said, “but it’s very different.”
Dunlap told council at second reading his group will continue. It just won’t be the same.
“We’ll be at a fork in the road,” he said. “Let’s be honest. This is not a cut our budget scenario, and our work remains the same.”
Dunlap said it may not make sense to have the county control his board yet only fund 4% of his budget. Dunlap continues to work through details on how the funding loss will play out.
“As of right now it hasn’t changed anything, but that doesn’t mean it won’t change for the future, specifically when we are looking hard at the numbers to work through this new deficit,” he said. “The funding from hospitality tax that we were given was used to place events in the unincorporated areas and our operational expenses.”
Budget public hearing
The public hearing will be held when council meets at 6 p.m. June 2 in council chambers, at 6 S. Congress St. in York. For more details, visit yorkcountygov.com.
