City may be spared deep funds cut

The Charleston County Council has backed away from a plan to disproportionately cut funding to the city of Charleston for tourism-related activities as part of an effort to cover a large shortfall in accommodations tax money.

The council plans to decide at a future meeting the amount it will cut funding for municipalities where the tax is collected, and for the College of Charleston and The Citadel. But it reaffirmed Tuesday a decision to eliminate funding for arts and cultural organizations.

One thing the council has not reduced is the amount of money the county plans to keep for itself, at least $4.35 million from a pool of tax money that's been dramatically shrinking.

That means there's a much smaller pie to divide among municipalities, cultural groups and festivals, institutions such as the Charleston Museum and the North Charleston Convention Center, and the two colleges for their sports facilities.

The tax money comes from the county's 2 percent levy on hotel rooms, which is separate from similar taxes levied by the state and municipalities. The tax is expected to raise far less money in the upcoming budget year because of the poor economy and a decline in tourism.

The county expected to have nearly $12 million available to spend in the current budget but has steadily lowered those expectations. For the budget year that starts July 1, the county now predicts less than $8 million will be available

To make up the expected shortfall, the County Council has directed the staff preparing the budget to eliminate at least temporarily funding for local theaters and arts organizations and festivals. The county Park and Recreation Commission would get no funding for extra lifeguards, as well.

On Thursday a council committee had recommended also cutting funding for the colleges, cutting funding for most municipalities by 25 percent, and cutting Charleston's funding by 73 percent. The city's cut would have been by far the largest, amounting to $467,000.

On Tuesday Charleston Mayor Joe Riley took an early flight home from Washington, where he was seeking stimulus funds for the city and the county, and then waited through a two-hour County Council meeting in order to make the city's case for funding.

None of the other municipalities or organizations facing funding cuts spoke at the meeting.

Riley said tourism bound for Charleston is what generates most of the county's accommodations tax money, and the city pays enormous expenses related to that tourism, such as the city's large police force. He urged the county to treat the municipalities equally and give them as much as possible, even if that mean deeper funding cuts for the colleges.