Dear Island Neighbors, 

Carolina Day and Independence Day
If you were here for the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Sullivan’s Island, you know that it was a very busy weekend that went very well.  Ft. Moultrie/Ft. Sumter National Park Superintendent Brad Shattuck reports that about 8,500 people visited the events at the Park over the two days.  The shuttle bus service frorm Mt. Pleasant (Thank you, Mayor Haynie and the Town of Mt. Pleasant!)  was used by about 1,000 people each day of the weekend, which in conjunction with the several hundred spots the Park Service made available in their field, alleviated the parking strain on the Island. Thanks to everyone with our Town staff and the Park Service folks (including many who came in from other locations).

Park Superintendent Brad Shattuck shares these thoughts on the event from his perspective:

 “Carolina Day 250 stands among the most significant commemorations the National Park Service has hosted in the Southeast, and the partnership on the ground made it a spectacular success. The Town of Sullivan's Island was central to delivering an event of this scale completely incident-free — I couldn't be more proud. Happy 250th birthday America!

Independence Day also was a fine day for our annual Island celebration. There were 106 golf carts and 93 bikes in the morning parade, with lots of inventive decorations. All were creative and contributed to a memorable event. The decoration winners were:

Grand Prize: Grace Cowan, Fort Moultrie and Ship
First Place: Peter Alexander, Eagle
Second Place: Jane Smith, Ship
Third Place: Tracy and Baxter Hahn, Palmetto Fort
Best Bike: Teresa Brown, Unicorn
Most Spirited: Judy Blalock, Eagle and America
Most Original: Georgia Crown, NASA and UFO
Best Ensemble: Mary Ann Mackey and Kelly Murphy, Toy Story/Cathy Curtis
Best Beach Theme: Horwitz Family, Beach Hair
Most Island Spirit: Debby Alphin, Eagle and Fireworks

Thanks to everyone who contributed to a great parade, in particular including our Town Hall and Public Safety staff.

PROPERTY TAX INFO
Town Comptroller Jason Blanton has shared interesting info from the County about ad valorem (property) tax revenues that come to the Town, and the properties that they are based on.

For the 2026 fiscal year through May (all but one month, accounting for nearly all property tax revenues), the Town received $4,738,174 towards operating expenses and $2,471,195 asssigned to debt service. The debt service expenses have been flat for six years, reflecting the structured payment sschedules of the 2018 and 2020 bond issues.

The calculations of property taxes for a given property are a little complicated (especially for the middle of summer) but basically the County starts with its estimate of a property’s appraised value. That is usually less than the actual market value, often a lot less. (Don’t complain!) Then it multiplies that by either 4% (owner-occupied primary residence) or 6% (non-primary residence or commercial). Then the millage rate (for the Town, in this case) is applied to that value.

The total of ALL our real properties (per the County-appraised values) is about $2,753,314,000. Of that about 60% comes from owner-occupied properties and about 40% from non-owner-occupied and commercial properties. But because of the higher (6% vs. 4%) assessment ratio, the two groups contribute roughly the same amount of taxes.

STORMWATER  PROJECTS GET STATEWIDE NOTICE
Our stormwater work and the master plan driving it were featured in the cover story for last month’s issue of Uptown, the publication of the Municipal Association of South Carolina. Town Administrator Joe Henderson provided very informative quotes. You can see it here: https://bit.ly/4f6uj55 . Thanks, Joe, for your leadership in this complicated, years-long very important effort!

SPEAKING OF STORMWATER PROJECTS...
The ongoing work in the Station 28 ½ and Station 31 is finally nearing completion.  Final shoulder grading is expected to be done by the end of July, and area cleanup, grass seeding, and sod installation should be substantially complete by the end of August...all contingent on Mother Nature’s cooperation. 

Thanks to all of you who have lived with this construction for the last several months, for your patience and cooperation. 

See you around the Island!

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