OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Horry County Administration Committee Meeting Summary – April 27, 2026

County Council — Monday, April 27, 2026
BodyHorry County, South Carolina
SessionCounty Council
DateMonday, April 27, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 2:56:35

Transcript — Verbatim
0:03

Gather today, grant every member wisdom, clarity, and unity, guide the discussions and decisions and actions so they reflect integrity and serve the common good.

0:14

We especially ask you to look over all of our staff, including public safety, first responders, and all who protect and serve our community.

0:23

Please keep them strong, safe, and supported.

0:27

May this meeting bring peace, progress, and blessings to our county.

0:31

In your name we pray.

0:33

Amen.

0:34

Attention to the flag.

0:35

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and the Republicans under God with liberty and justice.

0:52

Moving on to public input.

0:53

We have anybody signed up.

0:56

Moving on to the review and approval of the agenda contents.

0:59

Motion to approve.

1:01

Second.

1:01

All in favor, aye.

1:02

Aye.

1:03

Ayes have it.

1:04

Moving on to the approval of the minutes from the March 24th, 2026 meeting.

1:08

Motion to approve.

1:10

No move.

1:11

Second.

1:12

Second.

1:13

All in favor, aye.

1:14

Aye.

1:15

Ayes have it.

1:16

Moving on to new business, Conway TIFF update.

1:19

Adam.

1:20

I'm going to defer to Gary Pope, who is the city's attorney, and let him do the presentation so I don't screw anything.

1:24

Come on up, Mr.

1:25

Powden.

1:26

Thank you very much.

1:26

Come on up.

1:27

Welcome.

1:28

I appreciate it.

1:28

Thank you for coming today.

1:29

Thank you for having me.

1:32

Sort of preparatory remark.

1:34

I think y'all are all maybe somewhat familiar with what the city is trying to do, but there's an amazing opportunity to repurpose the Santi Cooper site, which uh helpfully is just right next door, and um it's gonna require a whole lot of public infrastructure, and we're here to ask for your help and participation, and uh this presentation will sort of take you through how that might work.

1:54

Um what we're proposing is a tax increment financing district.

2:00

Uh the city has established the district, but um there is no until we find an agreement with the county and the school district, then none of your property taxes or revenues would be contributed to that district.

2:12

It'll be wholly a voluntary and consensual agreement to come at a later date.

2:17

But um, for those that have not uh interfaced with this mechanism before, essentially what it does is it allows for us to set a baseline of property value, and then any incremental value that happens over time can be captured and used to repay bonds that are issued to pay for publicly owned infrastructure.

2:37

So it has to be for publicly owned infrastructure, and um only the amount of money that is attributable to growth, either new development or incremental growth in the existing infrastructure or the existing private uh privately owned property would be um used to pay back those bonds.

2:56

And so what we are trying to do generally speaking is provide ensure there is a development that increases in value such that it is worth the public investment over time, meaning that what we are going to do or what we're proposing is going to cause it to increase in value at a rate that is in excess of what would happen naturally.

3:23

Um this is a nice graphic that sort of describes what happens.

3:26

So TIFF enacted that was done on December 1st, 2025 by a city of Conway ordinance.

3:32

Um obviously uh you don't have any incremental values uh until there's some investment there, and so you wait a little bit of time to issue bond.

3:41

Um but that is the idea at the at the end of the day.

3:45

Um, what you see in red is the incremental revenues, those would be what would be available to pay back the bond.

3:52

This is a map of the area.

3:54

Um again, it is.

3:56

I don't know that I've worked on a TIFF where uh the uh one of the participating bodies uh is quite so closely situated to the area of the proposed TIFF, it is literally all around you.

4:08

Um, so y'all are very very familiar with it.

4:10

Um the idea again is to redevelop the former ranger generating station.

4:17

Um we have locked in the assessed value as of December 1, 2025 for uh the baseline.

4:27

Um we expect that if the investment comes online as anticipated, and certainly it will be more or less than we anticipate, but um, this is this is currently what we're thinking that the assessed value goes from 2.7 million to 12.9 million over the term.

4:49

Um these would be the a preliminary budget of what we think certain things might cost.

5:00

There, some of these things are gonna probably cost a good bit more than what we thought when we initially set out.

5:04

Dredging has gotten dramatically more expensive.

5:06

Uh it's been noted to me, and um certain of these items, you know, maybe more or less, but this is generally what we're thinking it's going to take for the public infrastructure.

5:16

What we're asking for is a borrowing limit of 80 million dollars.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural████████████████████████████████████████████44%
Pending Litigation████████████████████████████████████████40%
Economic Development████4%
Zoning And Land Use███3%
Budget Equity Analysis███3%
Public Engagement███3%
Engineering And Infrastructure██2%
Community Engagement█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Horry County Administration Committee Meeting Summary

Date: April 27, 2026
Time: 9:00 A.M.
Location: County Council Conference Room, Conway, SC
Chairman: Johnny Gardner
Members Present: Tyler Servant, Cam Crawford, Danny Hardee, Gary Loftus, Michael Masciarelli
Members Absent: None
Others Present: Mark Causey, Ashley Carroll, Barry Spivey, Shannon Todd, Renee Hardwick, David Gilreath, David Jordan, Sam Wallace, Thomas Bell, and presenters.

The meeting was called to order, invocation given, and pledge of allegiance recited. There was no public input.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of Agenda Contents: Motion by Mr. Hardee, seconded by Mr. Loftus, passed unanimously.
  • Approval of Minutes – March 24, 2026: Motion by Mr. Loftus, seconded by Mr. Hardee, passed unanimously.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comments were made.

Discussion Items

Conway TIF Update (Adam Emrick, Gary Pope)
The City of Conway presented a proposal to establish a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district for the 449‑acre former Grainger Generating Station site and surrounding downtown area. Key points:

  • The TIF would capture incremental property tax revenues (above a frozen base of $2.75 million assessed value) to fund up to $80 million in public infrastructure projects over 30 years.
  • The city would match every $1 from the county and school district with $1.72 of city funds (including TIF and non‑TIF sources).
  • A third‑party economic analysis projected a $380 million total economic impact and $5.2 million in net county benefit over 50 years after the TIF expires.
  • Current tax revenues to the county from the district are estimated at $143,404 (FY2026); projected at termination: $532,983.
  • The city requested committee authorization to negotiate an intergovernmental agreement with the county. A developer MOU is expected to be taken up by Conway City Council the following week.
  • Councilman Tom Anderson (not a committee member) voiced strong support, noting past TIF successes in Conway.
  • Committee directed staff to proceed with negotiations.

Financial Update – March 2026 (Jamie Norman)

  • Total revenues across all funds: $379 million; total expenditures: $265.5 million.
  • General fund revenues: $258.3 million (89.3% of annual budget, 5.5% above prior year). Expenditures: $193.7 million (65.9% of budget, 11.7% above prior year).
  • Property taxes collected at 99% of budget; vehicle taxes, ROD fees, and interest performing above expectations.
  • Special revenue funds all showing positive net change in fund balance: Fire ($11.3M), Road Maintenance ($7.0M), Beach Renourishment ($6.1M), Stormwater ($9.1M), Recreation ($2.6M), Waste Management Recycling ($9.1M).
  • No questions from committee.

Administrator’s Contingency (Jamie Norman)

  • FY2026 budget: $150,000; no expenditures to date; balance remains $150,000.

Local Vendor Outreach Update (Tammy Stevens)

  • Since 2013 local vendor preference program: first award in 2014, second award issued April 24, 2026 (DNL Site Work, $3M+ project, local bid reduction of $48,002.94).
  • Quote request system (for projects $10k–$50k) launched in late 2024: 53 requests in 2025 (124 bids), 58 so far in 2026 (160 bids).
  • Registered DBE vendors: 1,095 (up from 1,054 last year); local vendors: 317 (up 67 from 250). BidNet registrations serving Horry County increased by 13,729 since July 2025.

Local GOV 250 & National Academy of Public Administration Recognition (Barry Spivey)

  • Two Horry County employees – David Gilreath and Shannon Todd – were nominated and selected for recognition as part of the America 250 celebration by the National Academy of Public Administration. South Carolina had three honorees total.

Key Outcomes

All action items were approved unless noted otherwise. Votes were unanimous where recorded.

| Item | Description | Vote/Decision | |------|-------------|---------------| | A | Resolution to adopt 2026‑2027 Annual Action Plan (HOME/CDBG/ESG) – HUD funding: CDBG $1,953,700, ESG $166,318, HOME $989,478.96 | Approved as part of group (A–C) | | B | Resolution to apply for SC Opioid Recovery Fund Guaranteed Political Subdivision Subfund – $410,256.09 (including carryover and interest) to continue Behavioral Services Director, Crisis Intervention Team, Treatment Court expansion, and Coroner’s services | Approved as part of group | | C | Resolution to submit/accept FY25 DOJ OJJDP grant ($750,000) for Horry County Youth and Family Resilience Initiative | Approved as part of group | | D | Resolution to designate ARPA interest projects: American Legion ($150k), Horry County Council on Aging ($150k), Horry Georgetown Technical College ($500k), Grand Strand Humane Society ($500k), North Strand Humane Society ($150k) – total $1.425M | Tabled by motion (Mr. Masciarelli), seconded | | E | Resolution proclaiming May 2026 as Mental Health Awareness Month – includes “Steps Against Stigma” Walk on May 15 at Vereen Memorial Gardens | Approved | | F | Resolution designating May 17–23, 2026 as National Public Works Week | Approved | | G | Resolution authorizing FY2027 Accommodations Tax funding – $5,694,039.48 total (ATAC recommendations with committee amendment adjusting beach cleanup and other items) | Approved as amended | | H | Resolution approving carry forward of unexpended state accommodations tax revenues for beach renourishment (as allowed by SC Code §6‑4‑10) | Approved | | I | Resolution transferring $1.4M from general fund savings to Capital Improvement Fund: $400k for ERP system needs analysis and compensation study; $1M for J. Reuben Long Detention Center project | Approved | | J | Resolution approving FY2028 Budget Calendar | Approved | | K | Resolution recognizing Our Lady Star of the Sea Ladies Guild on its 50th anniversary (June 3, 2026) | Approved | | L | Ordinance to dissolve Eagle Trace Special Purpose Tax District (enacted Jan. 2025) | Approved | | M | Resolution approving Mutual Aid Agreement with Atlantic Beach Police Department | Approved | | N | Resolution approving Mutual Aid Agreement with Horry County Sheriff’s Office | Approved | | O | Ordinance to levy 1% Local Option Sales and Use Tax – referendum proposed for November 3, 2026 | Tabled by motion (Mr. Masciarelli), seconded | | P | Resolution recognizing May 2026 as ALS Awareness Month | Approved | | Q | Community Benefit Fund requests (total $24,000): Aynor Chamber ($5k, District 11), Kind Keeper ($3k, District 8), Socastee Heritage Foundation ($8.5k, Districts 3,4,6,8, Chairman), Loris Fire Department ($7.5k, Districts 9,10) | Approved |

Old Business

  • None.

Executive Session

  • Council entered executive session to receive legal advice regarding pending or threatened litigation. No votes were taken.

Announcements

  • Next meeting: July 21, 2026 (subject to change).

Meeting Transcript

Gather today, grant every member wisdom, clarity, and unity, guide the discussions and decisions and actions so they reflect integrity and serve the common good. We especially ask you to look over all of our staff, including public safety, first responders, and all who protect and serve our community. Please keep them strong, safe, and supported. May this meeting bring peace, progress, and blessings to our county. In your name we pray. Amen. Attention to the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and the Republicans under God with liberty and justice. Moving on to public input. We have anybody signed up. Moving on to the review and approval of the agenda contents. Motion to approve. Second. All in favor, aye. Aye. Ayes have it. Moving on to the approval of the minutes from the March 24th, 2026 meeting. Motion to approve. No move. Second. Second. All in favor, aye. Aye. Ayes have it. Moving on to new business, Conway TIFF update. Adam. I'm going to defer to Gary Pope, who is the city's attorney, and let him do the presentation so I don't screw anything. Come on up, Mr. Powden. Thank you very much. Come on up. Welcome. I appreciate it. Thank you for coming today. Thank you for having me. Sort of preparatory remark. I think y'all are all maybe somewhat familiar with what the city is trying to do, but there's an amazing opportunity to repurpose the Santi Cooper site, which uh helpfully is just right next door, and um it's gonna require a whole lot of public infrastructure, and we're here to ask for your help and participation, and uh this presentation will sort of take you through how that might work. Um what we're proposing is a tax increment financing district. Uh the city has established the district, but um there is no until we find an agreement with the county and the school district, then none of your property taxes or revenues would be contributed to that district. It'll be wholly a voluntary and consensual agreement to come at a later date. But um, for those that have not uh interfaced with this mechanism before, essentially what it does is it allows for us to set a baseline of property value, and then any incremental value that happens over time can be captured and used to repay bonds that are issued to pay for publicly owned infrastructure. So it has to be for publicly owned infrastructure, and um only the amount of money that is attributable to growth, either new development or incremental growth in the existing infrastructure or the existing private uh privately owned property would be um used to pay back those bonds. And so what we are trying to do generally speaking is provide ensure there is a development that increases in value such that it is worth the public investment over time, meaning that what we are going to do or what we're proposing is going to cause it to increase in value at a rate that is in excess of what would happen naturally. Um this is a nice graphic that sort of describes what happens. So TIFF enacted that was done on December 1st, 2025 by a city of Conway ordinance. Um obviously uh you don't have any incremental values uh until there's some investment there, and so you wait a little bit of time to issue bond. Um but that is the idea at the at the end of the day. Um, what you see in red is the incremental revenues, those would be what would be available to pay back the bond. This is a map of the area. Um again, it is.

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