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PINOPOLIS 鈥� After three days of discussing topics ranging from staffing to parking rates, Myrtle Beach city officials and staff wrapped up their annual budget retreat Friday morning in Pinopolis.

鈥淭his really has been a true working session for council and for staff,鈥� Mayor Brenda Bethune said Friday.

Pinopolis is a little more than two hours south of Myrtle Beach. It is located in Berkeley County.

On top of the budget retreat, many staffers and council members took a field trip to North Charleston early Wednesday, spending much of the afternoon talking with area officials and small business owners about incentivizing redevelopment before opening up their retreat later that evening.

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Higher taxes, parking rates proposed by Myrtle Beach city officials during budget retreat

• By Ian Livingston Brooking ian.brooking@myhorrynews.com

Prior to their trip south, Bethune said the budget department had put in roughly 3,000 hours of work in preparation for the three-day retreat. Those hours do not include the other departments that organized their own presentations for the retreat. The budget needs to be approved by the end of the fiscal year on June 30.聽

鈥淲e know we have some challenges ahead,鈥� Bethune said.

While city council and staff are returning to Myrtle Beach to work on the annual budget, one component not present in the three-day retreat 鈥� the public. This was the first time since 2016 that a budget retreat was held outside of the city.

Bethune said coming to Pinopolis was not to detract the public from providing comments.

鈥淭his is a true working session and long working hours,鈥� Bethune said. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 valuable. That gives council time to ask questions of staff. It gives us time to really analyze what the proposed budget is, what are our needs and to come up with our ideas on how to prioritize and how to pay for some of those needs.鈥�

The public was invited to attend the retreat in Pinopolis 鈥� it was advertised in the city鈥檚 weekly Friday Fax and the agenda was posted according to state law.

City Councilman Gregg Smith is seeing the in-town versus out-of-town retreat from both sides. He attended the last retreat in Pinopolis in 2015 as a private citizen. Now as an elected councilman, he said there is a difference being out of town.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot less distraction when you鈥檙e here,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e in town, you鈥檙e distracted by work. People at work want to call you because you鈥檙e right there.鈥�

Smith added when leaders are a few hours away from home, they can get more done in a more concise manor.

鈥淲hen we are in the city, we don鈥檛 have the networking that happens in between the meetings, we don鈥檛 have the networking that happens after the meeting is done,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淭his is a time for us also to build relationships among council and staff, which is absolutely imperative and we鈥檝e lost that as an area and as a country building those relationships. That is so important on the local level.鈥�

In his experience with past budget retreats, Smith said the public brings more to the subsequent workshops and meetings after the retreat rather than at the actual retreat itself.聽

Bethune said the public will have other opportunities to comment on the budgeting process. She added that she is looking forward to hearing another side to possible needs for the Myrtle Beach area, especially when there is one issue at the forefront of everyone鈥檚 mind 鈥� bringing in more police officers.

鈥淲e all know, I鈥檓 going to say the entire community knows, that we need more police officers,鈥� Bethune said. 鈥淭hat is a priority of council鈥檚. We know what the staffing needs are in the police department. We can analyze how are we going to pay for those needs and that鈥檚 what happens next.鈥�

As for the cost of the three-day retreat, city spokesman Mark Kruea did not have an exact tally on Friday but did say he expected it be less than $10,000.

There will be a special city council meeting on Monday at 9 a.m. for chief municipal court judge interviews, according to the agenda on the city鈥檚 website.

The next regularly scheduled city council meeting is March 8 at the Ted C. Collins Law Enforcement Center on Oak Street in Myrtle Beach. The council always begins the meetings at 9 a.m. for a workshop session and the regular meeting is at 10 a.m.

The council did not vote at the retreat. The council has to approve a budget before the beginning of the next fiscal year, which is July 1.