North Myrtle Beach could see a sales tax hike

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH - You may have to start digging a little deeper in your wallet. A higher sales tax may be on its way to the Grand Strand. North Myrtle Beach city leaders said there isn't enough money in their budget for tourism.

By: Mason Snyder | SCNow
Published: March 15, 2010

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH - You may have to start digging a little deeper in your wallet.

A higher sales tax may be on its way to the Grand Strand.

North Myrtle Beach city leaders said there isn't enough money in their budget for tourism.

According to North Myrtle Beach’s website, the sales tax is already 9%, but leaders say it could go up 1% in the near future, and some business owners aren’t pleased.

Jamie Keats has owned his leather store, Jammin’ Leather, for 35 years.

"One of the attractive features of moving the business to this area was the low sales tax rate,” said Keats. “Well that, since 1997, has already be obliterated."

It may be going up again, costing Keats' customers more money, which he thinks will drive tourists away from the beach, rather than to it.

“You add more sales tax to this area, you're going to deter some of the tourism and tourism dollars,” Keats said. “Business owners can't really support the fact of losing more business to not having the tourism that would come here on a regular basis."

"I think it will save tourism and save the city's economy," said Monroe Baldwin, Economic Developer for the North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce.

City leaders said the tax increase will help certain sectors of tourism, specifically sports tourism, during the off season and help area businesses.

"It would generate a lot more money, and at this point it is mission critical that we do get that extra business, or we're going to see some further declines in the area economy," Baldwin said.

Still some business owners fear the hike would hurt.

"It’s a combination of a tax dilemma,” said Keats. “You want to collect more sales tax to get more tourism, but is that really the only way you can get more tourism by increasing the revenue from the people that are already here and the people that already visit here on a regular basis?"

That’s the question that the city of North Myrtle Beach will have to answer - will the tax bring more tourists, or push them away?

The North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce said it’s currently researching the impact the tax could have.

It then is expected to present those results to city council.