Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee elects officers; town attorney outlines FOIA and recusal guidance

The Beaufort County Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee on July 24 elected Benjie Keith as chair and Martin Lehi as vice chair and received a legal briefing on the panel's duties and ethics obligations from town attorney Curtis Coltrane. The committee also confirmed it will post bylaws and ethics language for members to review.

Coltrane, introduced to the group as the town attorney, told members the advisory committee exists under state statute for local lodging taxes and that the committee's central role is to review tourism-related funding applications and recommend allocations to town council. "The accommodations tax advisory committee is a requirement of the statute that creates the accommodations tax," Coltrane said, noting the 2% lodging portion returned to local governments is divided into several components and that the committee advises on the portion reserved for tourism-related expenditures.

The attorney reviewed open-meeting and records rules under the Freedom of Information Act. He said meetings require adequate public notice, posted agendas and that communications about committee business are public records: "All communications between and amongst the members of the committee that deal with committee business are a public record," he said, adding that a quorum of four is required for action.

Committee members repeatedly pressed Coltrane about conflicts of interest and when to recuse. A freelance musician on the panel asked whether past or one-off paid performances require recusal; Coltrane said recusal is primarily a personal judgment based on whether the member stands to gain from a decision and recommended disclosure and caution. "The decision to recuse is one that the individual has to make based on your own knowledge of your situation," Coltrane said, and added that ongoing paid relationships with applicants would generally require recusal for subsequent decisions.

Members agreed to share the ethics language in a shared drive for review; staff said they would make the guidance available to all members. The meeting concluded after the committee covered bylaws and procedural housekeeping items.

Next steps: the committee will continue reviewing applications and may make formal recommendations on distributions to town council. Staff committed to posting the ethics language and bylaws for members to review in advance of future meetings.