Horry County Council Fall Planning Retreat – December 12, 2024
Horry County Council Fall Planning Retreat
On December 12, 2024, the Horry County Council convened for a fall planning retreat at the MPR B/C/E in Conway, SC. The retreat focused on the FY 2026 budget process, strategic issues, and key action items. Council members received updates on finances, capital improvements, public safety, transportation, and other county operations, and provided direction for the upcoming budget.
Discussion Items
- FY 2024 Financial Update & Five-Year Forecast – Chief Financial Officer Shannon Todd reported that the General Fund ended FY 2024 with revenues of $271 million (exceeding budget by $19 million) and expenditures of $220 million (under budget by $24 million), adding $25.6 million to fund balance, bringing the total to $160.7 million. Other funds (fire, road maintenance, stormwater, recreation, waste management) also showed positive net changes. The five-year forecast appears generally positive, with some yellow flags for fire apparatus replacement and potential state reduction in E911 funding.
- Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) / Debt Service – Jamie Norman presented the 10-year CIP totaling $477 million, including major projects such as the Preswick Fire Station, detention center renovations, and recreation centers. No bond issuances are planned for FY 2025; all projects funded with cash on hand. Future debt issuances are projected within existing debt millage.
- Airport Update – Judi Olmstead reported on completed projects (rental car booths, fire truck, expanded parking) and ongoing work (parking lot E, new hangars, terminal expansion scheduled for completion around Christmas 2025). The airport requested 22 new positions due to 14.2% passenger traffic growth.
- SC Opioid Recovery Fund (SCORF) Update – Beth Tranter highlighted that Horry County received $2.9 million from the opioid fund board and an additional $3.1 million in external grants. Programs include harm reduction specialists (2,000+ individuals served since Nov 2023), crisis intervention team (1,746 contacts since April 2024), treatment court expansion (40% increase in participation), and Next Steps program for female inmates. A multi-jurisdictional planning effort is underway.
- American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Update – Beth Tranter reviewed completed projects (Oak Tree Farm housing, Habitat for Humanity land acquisitions, water/sewer improvements) and proposed set-asides: $750,000 for New Directions women's shelter expansion and $250,000 for The Compass Community, plus $750,000 from ARPA interest for Racepath Neighborhood Revitalization. Council later approved these as part of Resolution R-142-2024.
- Public Safety Update – Randy Webster reported rising call volumes: Horry County Fire Rescue projected to exceed 83,000 calls for FY 2025; E911 handled 457,000 incoming calls in FY 2024; police department has 48 vacancies; animal care center at 100% capacity. A public safety training facility design is underway, and a detention center space needs assessment is in progress.
- RIDE III & IV Update – David Gilreath and Jason Thompson reported that RIDE III projects are progressing (Carolina Forest Boulevard widening, etc.) and RIDE IV passed in November 2024 with 56.78% support, continuing the sales tax for 25 years or $6.6 billion. Discussion included concerns about Highway 31 extension requiring North Carolina cooperation; council directed staff to explore delaying that project until North Carolina commits funding. Council also expressed interest in bringing RIDE program in-house (Horry County managing projects directly) to keep funds local.
- Local Road Plan Funding – Andy Markunas presented that the paved road network is in excellent condition (less than 5% in poor condition). RIDE IV will provide additional resurfacing funding, pushing the need for a road fee increase out to about 2032-2034. Discussion included proactive incremental fee increases to smooth future costs. The road fee lawsuit is still pending with an unfavourable decision; staff will brief council after January 9, 2025.
- ADA Website Compliance – Justin Schools reported that the county must comply with WCAG 2.1 by April 24, 2026. The county is ahead of schedule, having already updated font sizes and color contrast. Vendor selection expected by end of 2024, with full compliance by early 2025.
- Hospitality Update – Barry Spivey reviewed the hospitality fund: $157 million collected to date, $94 million in revenue, $62 million in debt issued. Unspent balance of $31.7 million awaits council direction on new projects. Major projects include Augusta Plantation Interchange ($100 million, funded by RIDE IV), Tadlock Intersection, and Socastee Rural Civic Center.
- Strategic Issues & Budget Guidance – Council confirmed priorities: maintain current level of service (requires adding 110-120 employees), prioritize market salary adjustments to retain workforce, and consider service level gaps only if additional revenue (millage increase) is identified. Council also expressed support for adopting a vacancy variance policy to more accurately budget for expected vacancies, and for pursuing a local option sales tax (if legally permissible) to provide tax relief and generate new revenue.
- Legislative Platform – Staff outlined legislative priorities including state infrastructure bank funding (especially after Charleston County referendum failure), local option sales tax eligibility, insurance cost relief, and mental health services expansion. Council emphasized that securing state infrastructure money should be the top priority.
- Wetland Mitigation Bank – Announced that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved the Horry County wetland bank on November 25, 2024. The bank, located on International Drive, will provide credits for future projects. A mulcher has been purchased for firebreak installation; initial credit release expected soon.
Key Outcomes
- Resolution R-142-2024 (Designation of ARPA Projects) – Approved unanimously. The resolution transfers $1,000,000 in ARPA funding to homelessness efforts ($750,000 to New Directions for women's shelter expansion, $250,000 to The Compass Community) and $750,000 from ARPA interest funds to the Racepath Neighborhood Revitalization Plan.
- Resolution R-143-2024 (Debris Reserve Increase) – Approved unanimously. The resolution authorizes the County Administrator to commit $2.5 million from the Waste Management Recycling Fund’s unassigned fund balance to further fund the disaster debris reserve.
- Staff Direction – Council directed staff to: (1) maintain current service levels and prioritize market salary adjustments within projected revenues; (2) develop a vacancy variance policy for inclusion in the FY 2026 budget; (3) explore the feasibility of a local option sales tax referendum; (4) continue legislative advocacy for state infrastructure bank funding; (5) accelerate planning for the detention center space needs study and potential integration with the public safety training facility; and (6) update the strategic plan and bring recommendations to the spring budget retreat.
- RIDE Program – Council expressed strong interest in transitioning to an in-house management model for RIDE IV to keep local funds and contracts within Horry County. Staff will provide a detailed plan and cost analysis.
The retreat concluded with the two actions and a reminder of upcoming commemorative events: America250 (July 4, 2026) and Horry225 (December 19, 2026).
Meeting Transcript
Let's go ahead and call to order the fall planning retreat council meeting for Thursday, December 12th, 2024. And if I can get everybody please stand for the invitation and the pledge believe. Merry Christmas to everybody. This should be a very informative and very good meeting. Before I turn over to Mr. Barry Spabi, I'd like to remind everybody that we have these elaborate speaker systems. Is mine too loud? Sounds too loud, but anyway, maybe I'll turn it off. But if you do have a question, please push the talk button so everybody can hear you. I'd also remind if you have a question, please leave wait to the end of the speaker's presentation because nine times out of ten, they're going to answer your question during their presentation. And in the tradition of Ory County's family first policy and values, I'm going to turn it over now to Mr. Barry Spee for the overview. Okay. Good morning and welcome. We uh look forward to the opportunity of sharing uh various pieces of information with you to update you on where we are and the things we're seeing coming up. Uh that this is this first step in the process of our interaction so that we can get to a budget uh in the spring in that regard. Uh and I'm gonna share several thoughts with you here just to give you a quick quick outline of what we will address today. Uh we have very discussion various discussion topics. Uh just remind you as well, this is an informal setting, and and we appreciate your questions and your feedback in that regard because that's truly valuable for us. Um we will first touch on our 2024 financial update. We will look at our five-year forecast as it relates to all of our major operating funds. We will look at our capital improvement program as well as our debt service projections, and those will be updated based on our actual results for fiscal year 2024. We'll be looking at various strategic issues is the way we would phrase it. Yeah, we'll look at uh things that are going on at the airport and and things coming, a ride update, local road plan, the public safety update, as well as our future operational needs. We'll also review some of our major programs related to ARPA and also have an action item for your consideration for an ARPRA actual funding and a debris reserve increase in light of everything that has occurred with Hurricane Helene and the state of South Carolina as well as North Carolina and Georgia. We certainly uh recognize that that need could be very great for us, and and the opportunity presents itself that we can increase our reserve a little bit, and we would suggest that we consider that, but we'll go over that as a part of the presentation. Just in some preferencing comments, uh, I do want to share with you, you know, that Ori County does not make revenue. We do not sell goods or services that people choose to buy. We actually impose on our taxpayers, taxes and fees for the services that we provide to them. I also wanted to share with you we're a pass-through entity. We bring money in, we spend that money that we bring in, and that's how we're designed to operate in that respect. Ori County is a service organization. The services that we provide are only provided through our people, our team members. That's how we accomplish the goals that we set. 70% of our general fund is people, it's the cost of our employees in that regard. We've used the term many times that our greatest asset, but I'll use the term resource because just to be cultivated and um and stewarded to the best possible outcome. The better they are trained, the better services we can provide. The more experience they have, the more equipment, the skills to do the job, the better service that we can provide to our constituents. And really our services are focused on two fronts. Many times we sit here as a county and we think about the unincorporated areas of Ory County. And we have primary service responsibility in the unincorporated areas for many things. Our police, our fire, our code enforcement, planning and zoning, the maintenance and support services to support them as well as business licenses, grants, CDBG, communications, stormwater, watersheds, road maintenance, parks and wrecks, our unincorporated waste collection system. All those things we provide as the primary service provider in the unincorporated areas. But what we don't think about sometimes is the impact we have on all the county as a whole. And in fact, I believe there's only one council district that does not have a portion of a municipality within that, and that's district six. Everybody else has one or more municipalities within their jurisdiction in that respect. And we provide countywide services. Actually, in them. It benefits countywide. Registration elections, our support of the state health services, our support of the state social services, the state mental health services, and the state alcohol and drug services.
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