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Hilton Head finance director: year-end 2026 essentially flat after bond spike; fund balance to be drawn
Summary
Finance Director Dave Byrd told the committee the town’s year-end revenues look flat once one-time beach-bond receipts are excluded, the CIP rose to $97.7 million in the proposed amendment, and staff projects an end-of-year fund-balance draw of about $25 million with some FEMA reimbursements likely to slip into 2027.
Finance Director Dave Byrd presented a year-end financial update to the Finance and Administrative Committee, saying the town’s headline revenue gain in December was driven by bond proceeds rather than recurring income.
Byrd said the town recorded a 47% revenue increase in December tied to beach bonds but that "if you take that out we're basically flat, year over year." He told the committee the town will normalize a one-time $1,400,000 business-license fee from 2025 and expects roughly 3% growth once that is adjusted.
The presentation included a new eight-sector dashboard staff will publish monthly — tourism, restaurants, grocery, construction, telecom, retail, services and other — to track trends. Byrd said staff aims to deliver the first monthly view by March and will include business-license associations by sector.
On capital spending, Byrd said earlier CIP totals near $78 million have been revised in the proposed March budget amendment to about $97.7 million, a change that reflects new fleet receipts and planned purchases. "We are taking receipt of 2, in the fleet program 2 Quint fire trucks of about $2,500,000," he said, adding those trucks will be covered under the existing lease; two ladder trucks expected late in 2027 are not on lease and will require future discussion.
Byrd also walked the committee through updated revenue projections that include bond proceeds. He said total dollars cited in the packet for bonds were "184,000,000" and that, excluding bond sources, the town’s operational projection is nearer $130,000,000 for the year. Byrd warned the committee that, based on current forecasts, the town is likely to "eat into fund balance of around 25,000,000" by year end. He flagged a $7,000,000 FEMA reimbursement as likely to land in 2027 rather than 2026, with invoices still under review.
Committee members asked clarifying questions about how staff defines "committed" CIP amounts and about the rollover of unspent CIP funds into the 2027 budget. Byrd said staff is meeting with project teams to refine committed-versus-contracted figures and that a partial rollover — he estimated up to about 20% — is possible as the 2027 budget is prepared.
The committee received the update and directed staff to include the figures in the March budget amendment packet; no final appropriations were made at the meeting.
