Cayce council approves accommodations and hospitality tax awards amid multiple recusals

CAYCE — The Cayce City Council voted May 26 to approve the Accommodations Tax Committee’s recommendations and the Hospitality Tax grant awards for fiscal year 2026–27, with several council members recusing themselves from votes where they disclosed an affiliation.

Mayor Elise Partin announced she serves on the board of the River Alliance and recused herself from River Alliance funding consideration. Mayor Pro Tem Phil Carter moved to consider accommodations-tax items collectively while excluding the River Alliance application; the motion was adopted with Partin abstaining. Council then approved the River Alliance allocation separately with Partin again abstaining, and approved the remaining accommodations-tax recommendations by roll call.

During hospitality-tax deliberations councilors separated additional items for individual votes. Council Member Byron Thomas recused himself from the CWC Cares Foundation item and did not participate in that vote; Council Member Tiffany Aull recused herself from the Women’s Club of Cayce award and abstained on that vote. The council approved the Women’s Club Hot Flash 5K funding in the requested amount of $6,700, with Aull abstaining, and then approved the remaining hospitality-tax recommendations by roll call.

Two members of the public spoke during the meeting’s public-comment period. Joe Long said he supported the applications on the agenda but asked the council to apply consistent evaluation criteria across tourism-related projects, noting concerns about private funding, the project’s performance history and visitor data for a previously discussed Thomas Dambo public-art project. Pamme Eades, speaking for the Women’s Club of Cayce, thanked the city for past support, explained that the club sought full hospitality-tax funding this year rather than splitting requests, and said smaller events sometimes appeared to face larger proportional reductions in funding.

Municipal Clerk Kristen Pace Hall recorded the roll-call votes and the meeting packet includes written recusal statements from Partin, Thomas and Aull, which councilors cited when separating and voting on individual items.

The awards approved at the meeting implement the Accommodations and Hospitality Tax Committee recommendations for FY26/27; councilors said funds are intended to support tourism and local events that promote Cayce. The council’s approvals were procedural actions at the meeting and did not include additional conditions tying disbursements to new performance metrics or reporting requirements.