By Delayna Earley
The Island News
A local property developer has filed a lawsuit against the City of Beaufort just two days after they broke ground on improvement work which will amount to $4.3 million at Southside Park in Beaufort.
Included in the improvements are a new pavilion and playground, but Graham Trask says that the city is violating state law by using hospitality and accommodations taxes to fund the project.
Beaufort City Council voted in January to issue a $7.1 million hospitality and accommodation tax bond for improvements to Southside and Washington Street parks.
The city plans to repay the 15-year bond using funds from the 2% local hospitality tax collected from restaurants and the 3% accommodations tax from bed and breakfasts, hotels and motels.
Trask argues that while a tourist may visit Washington Street Park or Southside Park, that those parks were not originally constructed for tourists, and so using funds meant to fund tourism projects is illegal.
The city stated during the January meeting when they voted for the bond, that the definition of a tourist is someone who does not live in the city limits, therefore the argument can be made that any of the parks in the downtown area could draw tourism.
Trask disagrees with the city’s assessment of what qualifies as a tourism-related project.
He agrees that the parks need renovating, but stated in an interview with The Island News that the money needed to come from the proper place instead of using money that could have funded other projects that are more obviously tourism-related, in his opinion.
While Trask has missed the 20-day window from the date that the bond was passed to try and get the bond overturned, he believes that his lawsuit is justified because he is not seeking to overturn the bond, but instead to have a court of law publicly hold the council accountable for, in his opinion, breaking the law.
“I want the courts to determine whether the city of Beaufort’s assertion that a neighborhood park with no demonstrated connection to tourism, can legally serve as a project funded by accommodations or hospitality taxes under the statute,” Trask said. “We are not suing to set aside this particular bond issue but are seeking a declaratory judgement on the expressed policy of the City of Beaufort to fund these kinds of projects using fees intended for tourism-related projects.”
City manager Scott Marshall was not reached by The Island News for comment before publication.
Trask filed his lawsuit against the City of Beaufort on Wednesday, Feb. 28, but papers have not been served, according to Trask.
Despite reportedly not being served with the lawsuit, Marshall made comments in a story published by The Island Packet stating that they are confident that the lawsuit by West Street Farms LLC and Mix Farms LLC will be dismissed.
Delayna Earley formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
