County law enforcement fee upheld for Hilton Head properties

The South Carolina Supreme Court held that Beaufort County’s ordinance imposing a law enforcement service charge and user fee on property owners in the Town of Hilton Head Island satisfies the statutory requirements governing local government user fees.

The dispute arose after the Town of Hilton Head Island reduced payments under a long-standing agreement through which the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office provides municipal policing services instead of the town maintaining its own police department. In response, Beaufort County enacted an ordinance assessing a law enforcement service charge and user fee on all real property within the town to help fund those services. The plaintiffs challenged the ordinance, arguing the charge improperly funded general law enforcement services that benefit the public at large rather than providing a special benefit to those paying the fee.

The Supreme Court rejected those arguments and affirmed the circuit court’s ruling. The court found that Hilton Head property owners receive a direct and substantial benefit because the sheriff’s office provides the full range of municipal policing services within the town. By contrast, the sheriff’s office responds to only a small percentage of law enforcement calls in the county’s other municipalities because those communities operate their own police departments. The court concluded that this distinction satisfied the statutory requirement that the fee benefit those assessed.

The court also determined that the ordinance complied with the remaining statutory requirements. The record showed that revenue generated by the fee is maintained in a separate fund and used exclusively to reimburse the sheriff’s office for policing services provided within Hilton Head. In addition, the plaintiffs failed to produce evidence that the fee generated more revenue than necessary to cover the cost of those services or that it was imposed inconsistently among affected property owners.

Finally, the court rejected the plaintiffs’ reliance on earlier precedent requiring a benefit distinct from that enjoyed by the general public. The court explained that the General Assembly amended the governing statute after that decision to expressly provide that a service fee is valid if it benefits those who pay it, even if the general public also benefits.

The 4 page opinion is The Town of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina v. Beaufort County, South Carolina, Lawyers Weekly No. 010-026-26.