MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Myrtle Beach, S.C., City Council members and leaders of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce went over how the city’s 1% tourism development fee is spent during a council workshop Tuesday, Oct. 6, as the city prepares to ask lawmakers for a bigger cut of the money.
The fee, known as the TDF, was established in 2009 in the wake of the Great Recession to fund advertising aimed at out-of-town visitors. It is a 1% sales tax on items bought inside the city, including lodging. State law sends 80% of the money to tourism advertising and promotion aimed at people who live outside South Carolina, and allows the other 20% to go to property tax credits or tourism-related capital projects. Myrtle Beach is the only city in the state that has put the fee in place.
The fee brought in about $43.25 million in the 2025-2026 fiscal year. The chamber received roughly $36 million of that last year for marketing, and its chief financial officer, Randy McKeel, told council the chamber spent about $9.7 million in fee revenue on out-of-state outreach between April and June alone.
The city’s 20% share, about $8.6 million last year, pays for a property tax credit on owner-occupied homes. But the cost of that credit has climbed from $2.8 million in 2011 to $10.4 million in 2026, and council cut the credit in the current budget to cover the gap.
Mayor Mark Kruea has argued the 80-20 split no longer works for the whole community, and the city wants to keep 40% instead. He has said he wants the extra money to go toward major tourism projects, including infrastructure for redeveloping the former Pavilion amusement park site, 12 acres of vacant land between 8th and 9th Avenues North.
Because the fee was created by state law, any change needs approval from the S.C. General Assembly. Chamber President Jimmy Gray said the chamber will work with the Horry County legislative delegation to get a bill drafted and introduced in the Senate.
