Fort Mill council defers action on York County recreation tax changes, seeks written details

The Town of Fort Mill council voted to defer a resolution opposing proposed changes to the York County recreation tax after councilmembers said they had not received clear written information from the county and disagreed about what the county proposal would do.

Cary Vargo, a town staff member, presented background remarks, saying council had heard that York County’s proposed FY 2026 budget would repeal a 1.5-mill tax applied to unincorporated areas and transition to a 1.5-mill countywide tax; he added that the county’s proposal appeared to reduce municipalities’ supplemental funding by about half. Several councilmembers said they had mixed understandings of the county’s proposal and that no written proposal or official county document had been provided to the town at the time of the meeting.

Councilmembers expressed concern about the potential financial impacts to Fort Mill, the need to understand any administrative requirements that municipalities would have to meet to receive funds, and the equity of a countywide tax if county projects are concentrated away from some parts of the county. Town staff said they had received phone calls from the county manager and county council members but not the formal written proposal; one councilmember later noted that the York County proposed FY 2026 budget text the town had access to included a proposal to eliminate the unincorporated recreation tax and transition to a countywide 1.5-mill tax.

Staff said the town’s recreation registration system can distinguish resident location using GIS and registration data, so tracking participation would not be overly burdensome. Councilmembers requested that staff obtain the county proposal in writing and asked the town to defer taking a formal position until the town has the county’s written proposal. Council voted to defer the resolution to the next business meeting.