A common complaint about Sullivan’s Island finances is that the town is spending too much. In 2025, the town budget was almost $10 million. Ouch! But that said, what’s a reasonable cost to operate our town?
One way to get a sense of the reasonableness — or excessive indulgence — of our town budget is to look at the finances of our neighbors. The graph (see below) shows our general expenses between 2017 and 2025, along with those of a few neighboring municipalities.
Not only is our budget in harmony with our neighbors, but we’re all increasing our expenditures at approximately the same rate. The fold increases for the four municipalities from 2017 to 2025 are:
- Folly Beach: 2.5 times
- Kiawah Island: 1.8 times
- Sullivan’s Island: 1.8 times
- Isle of Palms: 1.6 times
These comparisons are not exactly apples to apples. Kiawah Island does not employ its own police or fire departments, and Folly Beach has recently taken on several capital improvement projects, both of which have a significant impact on their towns’ budgets.
However, from a big-picture perspective, spending by the Town of Sullivan’s Island is consistent with similar municipalities. Or, to put it another way, we’re riding in the thick of the peloton.
Ned Higgins, Sullivan’s Island Town Council