itiveness and the renovation of employee fitness centers at the Public Safety Building and Fire Station 2. • Added staff to better serve our community and improve our residents’ quality of life: Code Enforcement Officers (2), paramedics (3, and searching for 3 more), and a Short Term Rental Coordinator. There are some great upcoming community events detailed on the city’s online calendar at iop.net. You can also receive updates by signing up for Sunnie, the city’s AI platform for sending updated messages directly to your mobile device. To get started, text “hello” to 877-607-6IOP ext. 467, or visit iop.net. Thank you for the opportunity to serve! See you around the island. Phillip Pounds, Mayor IOP 843-252-5359 ppounds@iop.net hope your summer is going well. Our busy summer season seems to fly by quicker each year – I’m sure our students would agree with that! Fiscal responsibility is one of the primary roles of City Council. Here are a few quick highlights of our city’s current financial position: • Cash reserves are at their highest amounts ever – approximately $19.1 million is restricted for beach preservation or tourism-approved uses and approximately $25.4 million is for capital projects or disaster recovery. • Debt is at a very reasonable level with low interest rates between 1.6% to 4.14%, with a significant portion maturing in the next few years. • Credit rating is at the highest level which allows us to borrow money with very favorable terms. • Property tax millage rate is one of the lowest in our region. For example, according to the Charleston County tax calculator, a primary residence with an assessed value of $2 million would pay $5,842 in property taxes on IOP, of which only about $1,400 comes to IOP and the rest stays with the county and school board bonds. The same property would pay $8,974 at Sullivan’s Island, $7,106 at Folly Beach or $7,062 in Mount Pleasant. • In the past two years, the city was able to secure over $8 million in grants and state budget allocations for capital projects on our island. Some of these funds have been used on the projects highlighted below. These are all very positive measures of success for our city. However, we are forecasting significant expenses for future beach renourishment projects on our island over the next 30 years, which may require additional revenue sources to pay for these needs that will exceed our current projected revenue. More work is needed to analyze our future financial needs and all available revenue or grant sources. June is the fiscal year end for us. While we haven’t completely closed the books for the year yet, preliminary reports show we will have another excellent year for financial results. The city’s revenue is forecasted to exceed expenses by approximately $2.6 million and finish the year with around $44.5 million in cash reserves. The preliminary unaudited total revenue was $28.7 million and total expenses were $26.1 million. These results include a significant number of initiatives or capital projects started or completed during the past 24 months. Some of the highlights: • The drainage outfall projects at 30th, 36th and 41st avenues were completed to improve stormwater and tidal drainage in these areas. • The new public dock at the marina was started and will include a 16-foot wide pier with a covered area with benches and swings, a new floating dock with ADA compliant gangway, and a kayak and stand-up paddleboard launch. • At the Rec Center, the city added two dedicated pickleball courts, renovated the outdoor basketball courts, (added a new outdoor fitness court, and made improvements to the dog park). • The city spent significant funds for emergency beach restoration around Breach Inlet and Beachwood East, for engineering and permitting for the upcoming shoal management project in the north end, and for a USACE beneficial use project at Breach Inlet. • Implemented Sunnie, our AI resident engagement platform, which allows residents and visitors to ask questions, make service requests and get real-time alerts for important IOP news. • Significant investments for city employees including salary adjust ments to maintain market competMayor’s Message End of summer means back-to-business capital projects By Phillip Pounds Mayor, Isle of Palms CIVICS FOR DISTRIBUTION OR MARKETING INFORMATION, EMAIL PUBLISHER@ISLANDVIBESIOP.COM OR 843-530-0403. THE ONLY PUBLICATION EXCLUSIVELY FOCUSED ON ISLE OF PALMS WITH REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION THROUGH THE STATE WELCOME CENTERS AND MAILED TO ISLAND HOMES. SPREADING ABOUT ISLE OF PALMS Good Vibes SOUTH CAROLINA WELCOME CENTERS I IslandVibesIOP.com 11
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