Dear Island Neighbors, 

I hope you’re in the mood for a couple of busy weekends, ‘cause they’re heading our way.

This weekend (June 27-28) will feature a plethora of National Park Service activities at Fort Moultrie celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Sullivan’s Island.  It will be Carolina Day on steroids! You can learn all about the events at https://www.nps.gov/fosu/planyourvisit/carolina-day-2026.htm (or just Google “Carolina Day 2026 NPS”).  You won’t want to miss this! The Town has been working with the folks at the Fort to manage the very large crowds they expect, but be prepared for traffic delays, and you may wish to walk or bike to the events if possible.

FISH FRY!
On top of all that, the 77th Annual Fish Fry will take place on Saturday, June 27, from 5 to 9 PM at the Fish Fry Shack (conveniently adjacent to the Fort). As always this is a benefit to help our great Fire and Rescue Squad volunteers obtain needed equipment for their important services. In addition to the best deal around ($5 per dinner!), there will be jump castles, Kona Ice, beer truck and music from Fowler's Mustache. You can enjoy your dinner while there or take it home. Info here: https://bit.ly/sifishfry2026.

INDEPENDENCE DAY
The following Saturday, July 4, is the long-awaited celebration of the 250th anniversary of our nation’s declaration of independence. As usual, we’ll mark the beginning and end of the day with two longstanding traditions: the Bike and Golf Cart parade, and the Party in the Park with accompanying fireworks. The parade kicks off at 9:00 AM, and the park event starts at 6 PM with fireworks around 9:00. You can learn more at: https://bit.ly/sijuly4th2026 .

BUDGET INFO
At our last Town Council meeting we had third reading and ratification of the Town’s budget for Fiscal Year 2027, which starts July 1. This is a very important annual undertaking. The year’s budget reflects and enables the priorities and goals set by Council as representatives of our citizens. It is based on input from residents, staff and councilmembers, within the requirements of municipal financial management, state and federal law, and fiscal responsibility. One big state requirement: the budget must be balanced.

Despite what you may have heard from the rumor mill, the process of developing the budget is lengthy, methodical, careful and open. This year our approach was even more systematic and structured than in years past, thanks to the efforts of Town Administrator Joe Henderson and Comptroller Jason Blanton. 

Planning started back in October of last year. As you can see in the accompanying table, the iterative process of budget development took place over many meetings of staff and Council. (Note that the Finance Committee is a Committee of the Whole, including all Councilmembers.

Following recommendations from our auditors, a significant improvement in the last two years is separation of the budget into two sections: the operating budget which covers all the recurring expected services and functions of the Town (e.g., Police, Fire, Licensing), and the capital budget which covers non-recurring major projects and purchases with expected lives of many years. The two budgets require different processes.

Here’s how Town Administrator Henderson describes the two budget components:

“Incremental Line-Item Budgeting (Operating Budget):

Our operating budget begins with the previous year's approved operating budget and incorporates adjustments for inflation, contractual obligations, operational changes, and service demands. This approach is predictable, easy to manage, straightforward to audit, and promotes accountability for expenditures.

“Program-Based Budgeting (Capital Budget):

Our capital budget functions much differently. Each proposed project must be justified based on the goals and objectives contained within the Town's Comprehensive Plan and other adopted strategic planning documents. Unless a project is a multi-year carryover, departments are essentially starting from a zero base and must justify each request independently. Department heads are required to identify the programmatic need, explain the relationship to adopted policy goals, identify potential funding sources, develop cost estimates, and present the project through the ClearGov platform. All of this information is then reviewed publicly through workshops, Finance Committee meetings, and Council meetings before any funding decisions are made.”

As you can see, this approach to budgeting allows us to accommodate the budgetary needs of the recurring, expected services and functions that the Town must provide in all years, while adopting a “zero-based” approach to separable, non-recurring items.

You can learn a WHOLE lot more about our Town financial matters by visiting our Financial Page at https://bit.ly/SITownFinances , including at the bottom, links that will take you to our Financial Transparency Center and the variety of information it provides.

As always, Comptroller Jason Blanton is happy to talk with interested residents who wish to learn more about our financial matters.

See you around the Island!

Pat O’Neil
Mayor
843 670 9266
oneilp@sullivansisland.sc.gov