Myrtle Beach Tourism Development Fee: TDF History and Newly Proposed 60/40 Split

Posted Tuesday, November 10, 2026 4:43 pm

David Hucks (via MyrtleBeachSC)

Nov 10, 2026 · @David

The new agreement

Myrtle Beach City Council approved a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Greater Myrtle Beach Collaborative to seek a new TDF split: 60% to The Collaborative and 40% to the city, down from today’s 80/20. Nothing changes yet, because the 80/20 split is written into state law and only the General Assembly can amend it.

	Current law	Proposed in MOU
Greater Myrtle Beach Collaborative (out-of-state advertising and promotion)	80%	60%
City of Myrtle Beach	20%	40%
City share: property tax credits for permanent residents	All of the 20% (city has also topped it up from other funds)	20% of total TDF (half the city share)
City share: tourism-related capital projects	Nothing left over	20% of total TDF (half the city share)

Under the proposal, the capital half would pay for improvements to existing tourism facilities and amenities and for new attractions meant to draw visitors, lengthen stays and support the local economy. Source: City of Myrtle Beach press release, “Tourism Development Fee Agreement Reached, Heads to State Lawmakers.”

What the TDF is

The TDF is a 1% local sales tax on purchases inside Myrtle Beach city limits, including hotel rooms, collected by the SC Department of Revenue since August 1, 2009. Myrtle Beach is the only municipality in South Carolina that levies it.

Legal basis: the Local Option Tourism Development Fee Act (S.C. Code 4-10-910 et seq.), 2009 Act No. 3, which became law without the governor’s signature on April 9, 2009.
Who can use it: only cities in counties collecting at least $14 million a year in state accommodations tax. Today that means municipalities in Horry, Charleston and Beaufort counties (Post and Courier).
How it is imposed: for up to 10 years at a time, either by a two-thirds supermajority of city council or by referendum. Myrtle Beach has used the council route both times.
The split: state law (4-10-970) requires revenue to go to tourism advertising aimed at non-South Carolina residents, except the 20% the city keeps. At least that 20% must fund a credit on owner-occupied homes; tourism-related capital projects are also allowed.
Who gets the 80%: the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce and its marketing arm, Visit Myrtle Beach, now under the Greater Myrtle Beach Collaborative umbrella launched April 16, 2026.
Size: about $45.5 million in 2025 (Post and Courier). The city’s 20% was about $9 million; at 40% it would be about $18 million (WMBF).
Current term: runs through 2029, which is the deadline driving the talks.

Timeline

The TDF has run 17 years under two council-imposed terms; the homeowner credit it funds has fallen from 80% to 53.4% since 2017 as costs outgrew the city’s 20% share. Newest first.

Date	Event
Nov. 10, 2026	Council approves the MOU with the Greater Myrtle Beach Collaborative for a 60/40 split; Mayor Mark Kruea calls it “a meeting of the minds” (Post and Courier)
FY 2026-27	Credit for owner-occupied homes cut from 67.45% to 53.4%; keeping 67.45% would have cost the city $1.6 million more this year (The Sun News via Yahoo)
Sept. 2, 2026	City and Visit Myrtle Beach confirm talks on a 60/40 split before the 2029 expiration (WMBF)
Spring 2026	Council picks the 53.4% credit option, about $117.59 more a year on a $250,000 home (MyrtleBeachNews.com, Mar. 22, 2026)
Spring 2026	Kruea opens talks with the Chamber; city says the credit needs $2.3 million from other funds if left unchanged (Post and Courier)
Jan. 2026	H.5003 filed to let up to 50% of the city’s retained share go to the credit; it sits in House Ways and Means (SC Legislature)
FY 2025-26	City adds $1.2 million from other funds to hold the credit at 67.45% (The Sun News via Yahoo)
2025	Kruea campaigns on revisiting the TDF in early 2026 (The Sun News via Yahoo)
FY 2022-23	Budget freezes the residential credit at 67.45% alongside a 10-mill tax increase (City of Myrtle Beach)
FY 2021-22	Credit at 76% (City of Myrtle Beach)
Aug. 2019	Second 10-year term takes effect, running to 2029 (Law360)
Apr. 10, 2018	Council gives final reading to Ordinance 2018-23 reimposing the TDF without a referendum (City agenda); first reading was Mar. 27
Apr. 2018	Karon Mitchel sues the Chamber, the city and Horry County, alleging over $30 million went to “crony companies” without bidding (AP via Washington Times)
Mar. 6, 2018	North Myrtle Beach voters reject their own TDF by about 94% (MyrtleBeachNews.com, 2018 Year in Review)
FY 2017-18	Credit at 80% for owner-occupied homes (City progress report)
June 2016	Legislature overrides a veto of H.5011 (Clemmons), adding Section 4-10-980 so the TDF can be reimposed (RFA)
Feb. 25, 2010	H.4310 becomes law without the governor’s signature, setting the 20% city share and the homeowner credit (SC Legislature)
Aug. 1, 2009	TDF collections begin in Myrtle Beach (SC Department of Revenue)
2009	Council imposes the fee by supermajority, the first local sales tax in SC enacted without a referendum, critics noted (FITSNews)
Apr. 9, 2009	Local Option Tourism Development Fee Act becomes law without the governor’s signature (Justia)

Controversies and debate

The fight over the TDF has always been about who decides how a public tax is spent: residents never voted on it, and a private nonprofit spends 80% of it.

No referendum. Council imposed the fee in 2009 and reimposed it in 2018 by supermajority. A 2018 change.org petition demanded a vote, citing North Myrtle Beach voters’ 3,050-188 rejection of their own TDF.
Accountability for the Chamber. Critics, including Paul Gable Jr. and FITSNews, argued the fee shifted marketing costs from hotels, golf courses and restaurants to everyone who shops in the city. The 2018 Mitchel lawsuit alleged no-bid payments to companies tied to Chamber staff; the Chamber said it followed the law. Visit Myrtle Beach posts quarterly accountability reports, which state law has required since 2010.
Does the advertising work? The Chamber says it does: its leaders credit the TDF with landing Avelo, Breeze and Southwest at the airport and with events like the Myrtle Beach Classic . MyrtleBeachNews.com has reported merchant complaints that city-collected money markets the wider Grand Strand, where many visitors stay outside city limits (MyrtleBeachNews.com).
Residents pay too. The fee hits groceries, gas and dining for locals as well as visitors (MyrtleBeachNews.com). The homeowner credit was the trade-off, and it has shrunk from 80% (2017-18) to 53.4% (2026-27).
The credit squeeze. Rising home values and post-COVID housing growth made the credit cost more than the 20% share brings in, so the city topped it up from other funds, then cut it. Tourism capital projects, such as redeveloping the Pavilion site, got nothing (WMBF).

What comes next

The MOU only matters if the General Assembly rewrites 4-10-970, and the 2029 expiration gives both sides a reason to move in the 2027 session.

Filing window: pre-filing for 2027 opens Dec. 10 in the Senate and Dec. 16 in the House. The Horry County delegation is expected to carry the bill.
Statewide reach: any change would apply to every eligible city in Horry, Charleston and Beaufort counties, not just Myrtle Beach. Kruea wants it usable by them; city consultant and former Sen. Scott Talley warned other delegations may tack on their own provisions.
What residents get: Kruea expects the credit to stay near 53.4% even if the split changes; the gain is the new capital half.

Open questions worth asking:

Will the bill also lengthen the term from 10 to 20 years for bonding, as Kruea floated in the spring?
Will the 2029 renewal again go through council, or will residents get a referendum?
Which capital projects would the new 20% fund first, and who chooses them?
What does the full MOU say beyond the split (oversight, reporting, sunset)?
2025 revenue: the Post and Courier reports $45.5 million, while MyrtleBeachNews.com, citing Chamber data, reported TDF down 4.4%. Which base year and figures are right?