The long-standing narrative from visitors to the Isle of Palms emphasizes the shared ownership and enjoyment of our beach. Credit is due to Mayor Pounds for highlighting an important fact: Of the approximately $62 million in property and personal taxes collected by Charleston County, the Isle of Palms receives only about $6.5 million. It is also true that this reality is not widely understood, except by the relatively small number of residents who closely follow local government and funding issues.
What is missing from this discussion, however, is the expense side of the equation. Tourism and increased commercialization bring substantial costs that deserve equal consideration.
Employment remains the largest expense in the city's annual budget, with approximately 71% of the Isle of Palms operating budget devoted to employee salaries and benefits. Those costs are driven, in significant part, by the level of services required to accommodate our residents and the influx of visitors who come to the island.
Publicly available data illustrates visitor demand and its impact on all city services. The annual departmental budgets further illustrate the scale of these services. The costs are significant.
Police activity increases significantly during the tourist season, with an average of approximately 1,350 calls per month during the summer months, compared with approximately 784 calls per month during the remaining nine months of the year.
Fire Department call data indicates that approximately 52% of emergency calls involve nonresidents and 35% involve residents, with the remaining calls falling into other or unclassified categories.
Public Works services are enhanced during the peak tourist season, including measures such as twice-weekly trash collection. A simple numerical count of trash and recycling receptacles highlights this fact.
The point is not that tourism is inherently bad. Tourism provides substantial economic benefits and contributes to the vitality of the Isle of Palms. The issue is whether we are honestly accounting for “both sides” of the equation. As with any business activity, a meaningful cost-benefit analysis must consider both revenue and expenses. If the city receives only a portion of the tax revenue generated by the island while bearing a significant share of the public safety, sanitation, infrastructure and other service costs associated with visitors, then simply pointing to the economic activity generated by tourism does not tell the whole story.
Isle of Palms City Council discussions of “family-friendly” rebranding should consider not only the potential economic benefits but also the impact of those decisions on livability, public services, infrastructure, traffic, public safety and the quality of life for the residents who call this home. Visitors are welcome, and tourism is an important part of our economy. But revenue is not necessarily a net benefit if the revenue allocated to the city is less than the cost of providing the additional services required to support that activity.
It’s time to look at “both sides now.”