Myrtle Beach leaders propose $330 million 2025 budget on Day 2 of retreat
PINOPOLIS, S.C. (WBTW) — A $330 million spending plan for 2025 was introduced Thursday during Day 2 of Myrtle Beach’s budget retreat in the Lowcountry.
City Council and staff members gathered at the Wampee Conference Center to hear about budget specifics, staffing updates, and upcoming fees.
Michelle Shumpert, the city’s chief financial officer, said the overall budget plans is about a 7.8% decrease from last year. Shumpert said she thinks this is because the capital projects have decreased. She also mentioned that 2025 is a reassessment year, whereas last year was more conservative.
Shumpert also compared the two budgets by saying this should bring a lot less inflation and economic uncertainty than last year. She also said she expects the tourism tax to remain flat this year.
“People are still coming here. Everything we’ve seen today in this year still holds true for that, and I really do expect that throughout ’25 we’re going to see about the same thing,” she said.
She said Horry County has not yet provided assessed values for the calculation, meaning the adoption for tax millage might not be released until after July 1.
Shumpert said there is no proposed property tax increase, no proposed business license increase, and no proposed increase rates for the Myrtle Beach Convention Center.
However, there is a proposed increase in construction service, solid waste, water and sewer fees.
“The fact of the matter is, as long as wages continue to grow and the labor market continues to be tight, that’s going to continue to drive the cost of goods and services that are purchased every single day,” Shumpert said.
Dustin Jordan, director of Parks, Recreation and Sports Tourism, talked about the potential changes in resident and nonresident fees.
“We are proposing an increase in youth sports fees, our proposal is $35 and $60 for baseball, softball, and basketball, and we are proposing a different fee, a separate fee in cheerleading and football,” he said. “This is something that a lot of people are going to now because of those costs for football and we’re proposing $50 to $75 on that.”
Jordan said they still have their youth scholarship fund in place. He said with increasing fees, they don’t want to leave any kid behind. Children who qualify will get their registration fees paid.
During the recruitment and retention update, the city’s human resources director, Kathy Berlinghoff, compared the workforce numbers in the last three years.
Berlinghoff said there have been almost 100 more city positions have been filled since 2021. She said the top three highest “full-time hiring departments” include Myrtle Beach police, fire, and public works.
Berlinghoff said that in 2023 alone almost 1,000 applications were received and processed, nearly doubling the prior year’s numbers. Myrtle Beach police increased 32% in applications since June.
She also addressed current vacancy numbers.
“We show, actually six vacant positions, but I do know we have a number of retirements coming into effect, TRST four full-time positions, convention center, three, and public works twelve full time positions, for a total of 9.9% vacancies but we have seen an impact in that over the last year,” Berlinghoff said.
Berlinghoff said South Carolina has a tight labor market and that in 2023 the state’s unemployment rate was 3%.
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Jackie LiBrizzi is a multimedia journalist at News13. Jackie is originally from Hamilton, New Jersey, and was raised in Piedmont, South Carolina. Jackie joined the News13 team in June 2023 after she graduated as a student-athlete from the University of South Carolina in May 2023. Follow Jackie on X, formerly Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, and read more of her work here.
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