The Columbia Museum of Art, Historic Columbia Foundation and EdVenture Children’s Museum are among the big-ticket winners in Columbia City Council’s annual awarding of hospitality tax funds.
Council also voted to give $25,000 to help keep the S.C. Book Festival alive as One Columbia, a local arts and culture organization, is now apparently taking charge of a new version of the event. The South Carolina Humanities Council recently announced it would no longer host the statewide annual literary gathering.
A number of small organizations, though, are likely to receive less of the money that goes toward tourism-related events and organizations than they did in the past year.
Council on Tuesday voted to allocate some $5.6 million in funds from the 2 percent tax collected on prepared meals and beverages. Council members distributed about $5 million of the $11.3 million in hospitality taxes, or H-taxes, expected to be collected this year along with the $600,000 that remained in the H-tax fund balance from previous years.
Of this year’s projected revenues, $3 million will be transferred to the city’s general fund and another $2.5 million will go toward paying debts. All of that money must go toward tourism-related expenditures.
Last year, council gave $6.6 million to community organizations, including the Columbia International Festival, the Congaree Riverkeeper, the Five Points Association and the Jam Room Foundation. Those commitments included some generous mid-year additions made by council to funds already approved based on a committee’s recommendations.
This year, with the H-tax fund balance now dissipated, those mid-year bump-ups are only likely to happen if H-tax revenues exceed their predicted value, said Missy Caughman, the city’s budget director.
That means the International Festival, for instance, is not likely to see the $70,000 it received from the city in the past year. Council approved the $25,000 allocation recommended by the H-tax committee, the same amount the festival was given at this time last year.
“I hope you understand that this year’s budget is kind of tight,” Councilman Moe Baddourah said to a number of organization representatives who attended Tuesday’s vote.
A few organizations received the benefit of some additional funding from council added to the committee’s recommended allocations. The Black Expo and the Palmetto Opera each received $12,500 in addition to the $25,000 and $4,000 recommended, respectively, by the committee.
The Eau Claire Community Council was given an additional $35,000 for a total of $45,000, and the North Columbia Business Association was given an additional $40,000 for a total of $50,000 – both exceeding the amounts granted to them last year, including council’s mid-year bump-ups.
The Congaree Vista Guild and City Center Partnership received $250,000 and $300,000, respectively, to go toward the continuation of their Yellow Shirts downtown ambassadors program.
Council unanimously approved allocations to 79 organizations and events. A vote was divided on the $47,500 given to the South Carolina Pride Movement, with Councilman Cameron Runyan dissenting. Last year, Runyan voted against all H-tax allocations, including for the South Carolina Pride movement. Two years ago, he voted in favor of all of Council’s H-tax distributions, including for Pride.
Reach Ellis at (803) 771-8307.
THE LARGEST AWARDS
Columbia’s largest H-tax allocations are going to …
Columbia Museum of Art — $716,107
Historic Columbia Foundation — $686,500
EdVenture children’s museum — $509,850
City Center Partnership — $300,000
Congaree Vista Guild — $250,000
Five Points Association — $225,000
Other council action
Other things of note:
$1 FIRE FEE HIKE. Council voted to increase the monthly fire protection fee charged to city water customers who live outside the city in unincorporated Richland County by $1 per month. The cost per household will increase to $2 per month.
The increase came at the request of Richland County Council to help pay for the fire suppression budget. Councilman Cameron Runyan was the sole dissenting vote, saying this was taxation without representation and there were other alternatives to pay for the fire service.
POLICE CITIZEN ADVISORY PANEL. Ten people were appointed to serve on the new citizens’ advisory council for the Columbia Police Department. Thirty-four people applied. Chosen were: Michael Baker, Demetria Capone, William Diekman, Catherine Fant, Edward Grimsley, Colie Lorick Jr., Jason Reynolds, Seth Stoughton, Andrew Waldo and Bob Wynn.
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