Hilton Head Island presents FY26 budget draft with lower millage, $650,000 beach-parking target and beach-renourishment plan

Hilton Head Island’s town manager on Thursday presented a draft FY26 budget that proposes a lower property tax millage and leans on tourism-related revenues while preserving services tied to visitor activity.

Town Manager Mark Orlando laid out a consolidated budget he said totals about $74.7 million and covers five funds at the workshop, and described the presentation as “an iteration of what you first saw” at first reading. He said the proposal reduces the operating millage and relies on a mix of property taxes, local accommodations tax, hospitality tax and other fees to support services.

The budget proposal calls for a general fund roughly in the $59.7 million range, a debt-service fund of about $18.8 million, a stormwater utility projection of $11.1 million, a Gullah Geechee Historic Neighborhoods Community Development Corporation fund of $3.2 million and a housing fund of $3.9 million. Orlando told council the town will cover five of six funds at the workshop and will present the capital improvement program at a subsequent meeting.

Why it matters: Council members and staff emphasized that the town uses a variety of dedicated revenue streams tied to tourism to keep property taxes lower. Orlando repeatedly framed the plan as balancing service delivery with fiscal restraint while positioning the town to pay for large capital work such as beach renourishment.

Orlando described the revenue mix and notable items in the draft: the town is projecting $650,000 from a new beach-parking program, about $6.8 million from local accommodations tax…