Accommodation tax panel awards Rotary Club of Bluffton $24,000 for Mayfest

The Beaufort County Accommodation Tax Advisory Committee voted to award the Rotary Club of Bluffton $24,000 in reimbursement funding for its 2025 Mayfest weekend, after committee members and staff discussed final invoices and the tourism-eligible share of expenses.

Committee staff reported that $706,350 was available for distribution this quarter and that three applications had been submitted to the committee, but two were subsequently rescinded, leaving the Rotary Club request as the only application under consideration. Mary O'Neil, past president of the Rotary Club of Bluffton, told the committee, "all know me, but I'm Mary O'Neil. Past president of, the Rotary Club of Bluffton. And we are requesting for our Mayfest, weekend, dollars 24,000." Staff said they had received additional backup invoices after the agenda was published.

Committee members pressed staff on how the tourism percentage affected the amount eligible for reimbursement. A staff member explained that "the amount that was eligible for reimbursement totaled about $16,600 once we calculated the tourism percentage for some of the expenses." Committee members discussed how the applicant had tracked resident versus tourist users (staff and applicants said the committee uses Bluffton ZIP codes 29909 and 29910 to classify residents for the tourism calculation).

A motion was made to award $18,880 based on the information in the application, with the ability to increase the award up to the full request of $24,000 if additional eligible documentation were submitted; that motion was seconded and put to a voice vote. Later, a separate motion to award the full requested amount of $24,000 (to be reimbursed based on eligible tourism-rate expenditures) was moved and seconded and passed by the committee.

The committee and staff agreed that final payment would be reimbursement-based and limited to expenses that qualify under the tourism-percentage rules; staff will reconcile submitted invoices and apply the tourism percentage to determine final eligible reimbursement. The committee encouraged the Rotary Club to work with staff to supply any outstanding backup so staff can complete reconciliation and process reimbursement.

Action summary: the committee approved awarding the Rotary Club of Bluffton up to $24,000 for Mayfest, reimbursed only for tourism-eligible expenses once staff completes invoice reconciliation.