Myrtle Beach Taxes Increase for Tourists; Corporate-Funded Police State Coming to Myrtle Beach
* The "State Tax Relief" of 1% effective June 1, 2007 plus the "State Sales Tax" for South Carolina brings the total "Sales Tax" to six percent before the other taxes are factored in.
Tax Overcharge in Myrtle Beach Restaurant
Tax charged on this restaurant bill is incorrect.
Myrtle Beach Restaurant News - Tax on restaurant food within the Myrtle Beach city limits is 11.5%, but recently a local diner was charged 11.5% and an additional 16.52% of the bill's total.
A local diner, who wishes to remain anonymous, emailed to MyrtleBeachRestaurantNews.com a copy of her March 5, 2012, lunch receipt from SoHo Restaurant, which is within the Myrtle Beach city limits. The total for two meals was $15.98, and a tax of 11.5% - $1.84 - was charged. That is the appropriate amount according to city tax rates.
However, an additional tax of $2.64 was also charged, an amount that is 16.52% of the total.
The diner asked the server about it, and she was told it was a "hospitality tax."
"I would just hate for tourists that go there to go back wherever and say Myrtle Beach has high 'hospitality tax' that's what the waitress said it was," the diner said. "And when I told her hospitality tax is 2.5 within the city she said other people have questioned it and they explain it as a hospitality tax."
Since other people have questioned the tax, it seems this is a recurring problem at this restaurant.
A copy of the receipt was sent to Maria Baisden, who works in the City of Myrtle Beach finance department, and she said she does not know what the second fee represents.
Three days later on a different meal, the correct amount of tax was charged.
Corporate Funded Police State Coming to Myrtle Beach
The chamber plans on redirecting portions of a
$30 million tax on visiting tourists it receives to pay for public law
enforcement. Reports of other tourism promotion funds will also be
used by this Chamber to hire more law enforcement for May 2015. Using
those funds would require amending state law.
Because of issues surrounding the passage of
the current $30 million annual tax on visiting tourists and the
suspicious way it came to be, some area leaders are highly concerned
about giving this much power to a private entity.
“This Chamber of
Commerce has sued us for our own private trademark, worked to shut down
our facebook page, and their members have Google bombed our maps
listings in the past few weeks so as to have them removed from Google
maps,” said David Hucks. “It is frightening to see them now
working towards paying the salaries for public law enforcement. Does
anyone not believe these officers will not know where this money is
coming from? What happened to we the people?”
“Am I the only person in this state who can see the long term implications of this?” said Skip Hoagland of StopChamberAbuse.com. “As
much as I have spoken out about the abuses of this Myrtle Beach Area
Chamber, God forbid I visit during the period this group is funding law
enforcement or any time for that matter. They are working to put small
media out of business, paying politicians for taxation laws to benefit
their own private affairs, and now they are in the police business? This is very troubling,” Hoagland added.
Why are so many concerned about the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber getting into the business of paying for public law enforcement?
In a recent Myrtle Beach area trial, the attorneys for lobbyist Mark Kelly laid out evidence under oath that Chamber President Brad Dean personally passed those suspicious funds to area politicians. Is this the man we want funding our public police officers?
“This just gets more and more concerning as each day passes,” said Tammy Dabbs of the Myrtle Beach Peoples Rally. “People are just now waking up to their loss of civil liberties here in Myrtle Beach.“
Myrtle Beach Peoples Rally will put sunlight on these mounting concerns this August 8th and 9th. The rally will be held at Pelicans Baseball Stadium. A peaceful, Saturday protest march from the stadium to the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce will be part of the rally. “We simply can not have a private entity, not accountable to voters paying for public safety officials. nless we wake up as a community and state wide, we will soon have one of the first corporate-paid, public police states in the nation,” said Dabbs.
To show support for the rally, visit the MyrtleBeachPeoplesRally.com
Myrtle Beach Mafia, S.C. beer laws, and Capt. ‘Murica
April 23, 2014Weekly Surge - This week from Under the Outhouse, a group claims a “Myrtle Beach Mafia” has hijacked the city, more beer freedom (and beer in general) may be headed to South Carolina, and Captain America channels his inner Edward Snowden.
Group Claims “Myrtle Beach Mafia” Hijacked City
A group of local activists opposing the Myrtle Beach area’s 1 percent sales tax is targeting a coalition of local politicians, local business magnates, and the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce. A post by the organization on Myrlte-Beach.com supposedly documents “how one hotel corporation took full control of an entire city and is now working to have greater control over an entire state.” The existence of an organized “Myrtle Beach Mafia” may be a bit of a stretch; however, the article does highlight what could be one of the biggest pay-to-play scandals in the history of the state -- as well as the fleecing of Myrtle Beach locals at the hands of corrupt politicians and Chamber of Commerce.
The story begins back in 2009, when the South Carolina Legislature allowed local municipalities like Myrtle Beach to pass a 1 percent sales tax to fund tourism-related projects. In May of that year, the Myrtle Beach City Council voted to approve the 1 percent sales tax increase (without putting it to the voters, of course). Of the more than $30-million collected yearly from tourists and locals, 80 percent is directed back to the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, which (unsurprisingly) lobbied state and local elected officials to pass the tax. Only a small percentage is actually used for infrastructure projects in the area; according to WMBF News, just $1.9 million was allocated to public works projects in Myrtle Beach in the tax’s first three years, while $57 million was used for advertising. The Chamber claims the tax has been instrumental in bringing more tourists to the area, but local activists claim the tax is a kickback scheme benefitting the chamber, local politicians who support making the tax permanent, and large hoteliers (the Brittain Resort Corporation). Additionally, activists claim that the tax puts small hotels and condo owners who lease their property at a disadvantage.
The economic impact of the tax on tourism is still debatable (though if a cigarette tax is intended to stunt smoking, a tax on tourism would theoretically have the same effect), but the group’s “kickback” accusation does carry merit.
According to The Sun News’ David Wren, a federal criminal investigation is examining $324,500 in political contributions made in 2009 to local officials who supported the sales tax increase. Wren reports the possibly illegal contributions came from 14 shell corporations – all listing Myrtle Beach lawyer and former Chamber Chairman Robert “Shep” Guyton as their registered agent. Myrtle Beach City Council members Wayne Gray, Randal Wallace and Mayor John Rhodes are just a few who received this money. State Senator Ray Cleary (R-Murrells Inlet) and state Representatives Alan Clemmons (R-Myrtle Beach), Liston Barfield (R-Aynor), and Nelson Hardwick (R-Surfside Beach) are also some of those reported to have received contributions from these corporations.
Local Rep Leading Charge to make S.C. a Better Place for Beer
South Carolina State Senator Sean Bennett (R-Summerville) filed an amendment last week that would make the state more hospitable to craft breweries. The amendment, co-sponsored by State Senator Greg Hembree (R-Little River), would allow craft breweries to make more beer, as well as sell directly to distributors both in and out of the state. Such changes to South Carolina’s laws would make the state more attractive to microbrewers like California-based Stone Brewery, which is looking to expand in the East. "I certainly think we’re in the running and have a shot at it," South Carolina Brewers Association attorney Brook Bristow told The Greenville News.
According to The Sun News, economic developers from the area have targeted a location across from Broadway at the Beach as a possible spot for Stone’s footprint in the East. However, Brad Lofton, CEO of the Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corp., doubts the brewery would commit to such a large expansion without a law on the books that would allow it to operate in the state.
At press time, the bill resides with the Senate Judiciary committee, and must be passed by the Senate by May 1 in order for it to be also approved by the House this year.
Is Sen. Lindsey Graham a Member of Hydra?
Before it leaves theaters, I strongly suggest you go see “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.” Marvel’s second installment of comic book hero Captain America is a modern-day allegory of the battle between freedom and security. And, following the on-going revelations of the extent of the Obama Administration’s illegal use of domestic spying by the National Security Agency, the movie’s message hits close to home.
Andrew Davis is a Myrtle Beach native and former Director of Communications for the national Libertarian Party. Contact him at SCPundit@gmail.com, or follow on Twitter at @SCPundit.
Culture of Corruption And Violence Part of Myrtle Beach’s Recent Past
June 4, 2014Myrtle-Beach.com - Mayor Jake Evans of Atlantic Beach, S.C. said today that he was not invited to the press conference recently attended by Myrtle Beach Chamber C.E.O. Brad Dean, County Council Chair Mark Lazarus, Myrtle Beach Mayor John Rhodes, and Governor Haley where the governor called for an end to the Atlantic Beach Memorial Weekend Bike Festival, commonly referred to as Black Bike Week Rally, held in Atlantic Beach. He said he was sent a text by the North Myrtle Beach Mayor once the press conference was just about to begin.
As of today, Mayor Evans said that neither the Governor, nor the Mayor of Myrtle Beach, nor the head of Horry County Council, nor the Chamber C.E.O. has reached out to him personally to discuss the matter individually or privately. All of the communication he has received to date has come through what he has read in the media. While an area meeting of mayors is scheduled for tomorrow, Mayor Evans is required to be in court during that time for a matter concerning the city of Atlantic Beach.
In a prepared statement to the media, Brad Dean, Myrtle Beach Area Chamber C.E.O. said, “We are working with our promotional partners to do what little we can to counter the negative publicity and assure those visitors planning a trip to the Myrtle Beach area that our community values their safety.”
AN INCREASINGLY VIOLENT MYRTLE BEACH CULTURE
Two more murders have occured in the Myrtle Beach area since the Memorial Day shootings and one attempted murder on June 2nd at 60th Avenue North in downtown Myrtle Beach also occurred. These murders are completely unrelated to the Bikefest Rally. While the Heather Elvis murder of last December in Myrtle Beach also captured national headlines, the news of a man beaten to death at a South end Myrtle Beach motel last Fall, a Myrtle Beach woman who murdered her ex-lover, and these most recent June 2014 murders have not garnered the national press attention that the Memorial Day shootings have.
“There are areas on the South end of Myrtle Beach near where those murders and the murder last Fall occurred that I would not feel safe having my grandchildren be on the streets after 9 p.m., “said Mayor Evans. “A decade of history has attracted an element to the South End of Myrtle Beach, where those murders occurred, that has created an unsafe environment for everyone.”
He added, “Let’s be clear, there were no murders in Atlantic Beach during the bikefest and no murders in our town all of last year. Through the media, this group is asking me to shut down our festival because of violence in the city of Myrtle Beach. My voting constituents simply won’t support that, and it is not the right thing to do,” the Mayor said.
A CULTURE OF CORRUPTION
In a recent Myrtle Beach area trial, the attorneys for lobbyist Mark Kelly laid out evidence under oath that it was actually Chamber President Brad Dean who personally passed those suspicious funds to area politicians. One of the cashiers checks was written on a corporation owned by County Council Chairman, Mark Lazarus. Lazarus has stated publicly that he does not know where those campaign contributions came from.
SLANTED PRESS COVERAGE?
The current Chairman of the Chamber Board is a man named Ted Fortenberry. He is also the station manager for the local Myrtle Beach NBC television station, WMBFnews. While stories of the Memorial Weekend shootings have been high profile stories across the station for the past few weeks, stories concerning the Chamber-related suspicious political payoffs have received sparse coverage. There have been ongoing calls from the Myrtle Beach Peoples’ Rally and from Myrtle-Beach.com for the Chamber Board Chairman to call for an internal investigation into that Chamber-related matter. The station and Mr. Fortenberry remain silent on this issue.
In his prepared statement, Chamber C.E.O. Dean said concerning the Memorial Day shootings, “The senseless acts of criminals and unruly visitors have once again marred what should have been a stellar weekend…” As of this writing, we understand officials are just now beginning to make arrests in the Memorial Weekend shootings. No arrests of any kind have ever been made in the Chamber-related suspicious payoffs to local politicians.
Today the Chamber voted unamimously to divert funds collected from the $30 million tourist tax to a fund used for police protection during the bike rally. Dean said, “We as a community must find ways to combat this problem and ensure that this type of lawlessness will no longer be tolerated. That is going to require a substantial increase in law enforcement”.
CASINO GAMBLING – Issues Moving Forward
Concerns have also been raised about an initiative on next Tuesday’s Democratic Ballot that will poll whether casino gambling should be allowed in the city of Myrtle Beach. Area locals have spoken that dark money, from members associated with the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber have lobbied for such casino gambling for some time now. Area churches are just now coming together to voice their concerns about this issue.
“Casino gambling and hotel casino gambling would devastate poor peoples and only invite a more criminal element into our city,” said Tammy Dabbs, National Director of the Myrtle Beach Peoples’ Rally. “The costs of such would certainly outweigh any benefits to our town and our state for supposed road repairs.”
A Myrtle Beach Peoples Rally will be held August 8th and 9th, at Pelicans Baseball Stadium to address issues that have caused the Myrtle Beach brand to be tarnished over the past 6 years. A Saturday protest march from the stadium to the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce will be part of the rally. For ongoing updates on the rally, you can visit the Rally’s Facebook Page.
We reached out to Governor Haley, Brad Dean, Mark Lazarus, and Mayor Rhodes for their input on this story. As of this writing none have responded.
Related:
The Brittain Center for Resort Tourism
City of Myrtle Beach Hospitality tax receipts up nearly 2 percent during the first half of fiscal year 2013... moderating compared with the 6 percent growth rate seen in FY 2012.
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