Accommodations Tax Committee

Agendas and Minutes

02/16/22 Meeting Agenda	02/16/22 Meeting Minutes
05/10/22 Meeting Agenda	05/10/2022 Meeting Minutes
05/24/2022 Meeting Agenda	05/24/2022 Meeting Minutes
05/17/2023 Meeting Agenda

Purpose: Advise County Council on distribution of revenues from the Accommodations Tax.

Enabling Legislation: State Law reference— Local Accommodations Tax Act, S.C. Code 1976, § 6-1-500 et seq.Ord. No. 294, 6-4-2001 Ord. No. 363, 8-15-2005

A municipality or county receiving more than fifty thousand dollars in revenue from the accommodations tax shall appoint an advisory committee to make recommendations on the expenditure of revenue generated from the accommodations tax. The advisory committee consists of seven members with a majority being selected from the hospitality industry of the county. At least two of the hospitality industry members must be from the lodging industry where applicable. One member shall represent the cultural organizations of the county.

The county shall adopt guidelines to fit the needs and time schedules of the area. The guidelines must include the requirements for applications for funds from the special fund used for tourism related expenditures. A recipient's application must be reviewed by an advisory committee before it receives funds from the county.

Advisory committees shall submit written recommendations to the county at least once annually. The recommendations must be considered by the county.

Municipalities and counties annually shall submit to the South Carolina Accommodations Tax Oversight Committee:
-end of the year report detailing advisory committee accommodations tax recommendations;
-county's action following the recommendations;
-list of how funds from the accommodations tax are spent, except for the first twenty five thousand dollars and five percent of the balance in Section 6-4-10(2) allocated to the general fund. The list is due before October first and must include funds received and dispersed during the previous fiscal year;
-list of advisory committee members noting the chairman, business address if applicable, and representation of the hospitality industry including the lodging industry and cultural interest.

Local Accommodations Tax:

All short term rentals in Pickens County are subject to Accommodations Tax, both local and state. Please use the Tourism Development Fee Form to calculate your local tax. Questions? Email the Pickens County Finance Department.

Short term rentals are also subject to the state Accommodations Tax – information about that can be found here.