Resident Michael Hutton tells council property-tax assessments created steep disparities

Michael Hutton used the public-comment period to tell Horry County Council he believes his second property is being taxed at a substantially higher rate than neighboring units and that administrative offices have not provided satisfactory explanations.

"My name is Michael Hutton. I've been a Horry County resident for approximately 15 years," he said. He described inheriting his homestead and later buying a second townhouse in Little River. Hutton said his homestead property-tax bill is roughly $1,200 with the homestead exemption, but after closing he received a bill for the second property listing taxes around $2,800 and later saw an assessment near $3,400 while a next-door neighbor with a larger unit was reportedly paying about $1,900.

Hutton said he expected taxes to be prorated at closing (he noted a proration of about $600) and that he had tried to resolve the issue with the assessor's and treasurer's offices without success. "Why am I being punished tax wise by owning 2 pieces of property in Horry County?" he asked the council.

A council member who identified as a real estate attorney offered to speak with Hutton after the meeting and suggested that a broader statutory fix would require legislative change: "I think the real answer is you get a lot of your state legislature to repeal Act 388 and that all goes away," the attorney said in offering background on potential structural remedies.

Council did not take action on the specific complaint during the meeting; the chair noted the council is not supposed to address constituent problems directly from the dais and referred Hutton to staff and legal resources. No agency response from the assessor or treasurer was recorded in the transcript during the meeting.