DARLINGTON — Darlington City Council gave preliminary approval to a 2 percent hospitality tax on prepared foods and beverages served in restaurants, bars and other establishments in the city.
The 4 - 0 first-reading vote on an ordinance providing for the tax came during a special called meeting Tuesday, according to City Manager Rodney Langley. Mayor Tony Watkins and council members Coleman Cannon, John Segars and Dyan Cohen voted for the tax. No other members were present, Langley said.
A final vote is expected at council’s next regular meeting on Nov. 4. Council will hold a public hearing on the ordinance at that meeting before taking a vote, Langley said.
If the tax is approved, city officials say it will likely be implemented sometime after the first of the new year, according to Langley.
Assistant City Manager Howard Garland said based on a survey of sales taxes paid by restaurants and other establishments in the city in 2007, officials estimate that a 2 percent hospitality tax could generate between $300,000 and $350,000 a year in new revenue for the city. “We didn’t have the numbers from the new Hardee’s at that time, so that number may actually be closer to $350,000,” Garland said.
Revenue generated by the tax can only be used for recreational or tourism-related purposes, Langley said.
Darlington is coming late to the hospitality tax, Garland said. Other surrounding communities, including Hartsville and Florence, already have such a tax in place. Hartsville is using its revenue from the tax to finance improvements to parks and recreational facilities throughout the city.
“We’ve got facilities that are 30 or 40 years old that, except for the tennis courts, haven’t been upgraded in that time,” he said.
Possible projects for the funding could include the city’s only public pool which is not currently usable because of needed repairs, the renovation of the old Carnegie Library building for use as a museum, Williamson Park and a pedestrian walk-through in the old McClellan building in downtown, Garland said.
If council gives final approval to the tax, city officials plan to begin sending information packets to affected business owners to explain the tax and how it will work, he said.
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