How Greenville fares with its hospitality tax

By Charles Sowell  

MAY 31, 2010 3:42 p.m. (1)

Hospitality tax delinquencies over the past three years in Greenville have tracked closely to the overall state of the economy, data from city and county collection officials show.

And while figures in the Upstate haven’t yet rebounded, there are bright spots for the hospitality industry overall, said Tom Sponseller, president of the South Carolina Hospitality Association.

Chiefly fine dining in downtown Charleston has recently hit levels not seen in two years, he said. And recent reports show a 30 percent increase at high-end restaurants.

“A lot of that has to do with the cruise ships docking there now,” he said. “And the year started out badly for them (in Charleston) since the start of their traditional season starts with the Wildlife Expo and that was a snow day this year.”

Sponseller said City of Greenville figures reflect the overall decline as well as the fact Upstate cities, chiefly Greenville and Spartanburg, are mainly business destinations versus the luxury cruise destination that is driving downtown Charleston’s rebound.

For a long time business wasn’t doing any traveling, he said. That’s shifted a bit now, but things are still tight on the business front and expense accounts are not as liberal as they once were for many business travelers.

According to City of Greenville figures in 2007 hospitality tax delinquencies were 11.89 percent for the year and ranged from a low of 8.11 to a high of 14.04 percent on a month-to-month basis. In 2008 the average was 11.81 percent and the month to month ranged from 10.11 to 13.57 percent and in 2009 it averaged 10.58 percent and ranged from 8.13 to 12.28 percent.

Jodie Dudash, revenue administrator for the city, said hospitality tax income should remain constant for the city.

“There really shouldn’t be any delinquent accounts,” she said. “But we’ve historically had some restaurants that are chronic late payers.”

City council recently passed an ordinance tightening hospitality tax collection policies and that’s helped a great deal, Dudash said.

Figures from the county didn’t show as high a delinquency rate, according to Bob Mihalic, county spokesman. But they did show an overall increase as economic times got rougher.

For 2007 figures for nine months show an average delinquency rate of 6.154 percent with a monthly high of 7.877 percent and a low of 4.23 percent. In 2008 the overall rate ticked up about one percent to 7.067 percent the monthly high was 8.845 and the low was 4.915 percent. In 2009 the average was 8.438 percent with a monthly high of 10.734 percent and a low of 6.716 percent.

Partial figures for 2010 show an average delinquency rate of 7.843 percent.

Sponseller said the lower delinquency rates for Greenville County reflect the differences in the kinds of dining found in the county and the city.

County restaurants tend to be more plebian and the fast food market has not suffered as much as the high-end dining businesses, he said.

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Gina Bruncati   |2010-09-13 15:35:42 What is being done about the delingquent accounts? And who are they? Reply

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