Beaufort County voters approved a one-cent transportation sales tax on November 3. In the unofficial count posted election night, it passed by 1,227 votes out of 80,675. The project list behind that vote has two items on the road Wexford uses every day. One is $21,294,000 to resurface William Hilton Parkway from the Hilton Head Island bridge to Sea Pines Circle. The other is $15,600,000 for the circle itself.
The two items are at very different stages. The repaving is plain road maintenance. The circle project now has a county allocation, but it is only at the first stage of design. The town controls that design through a separate approval process, and the tax does not settle it.
How close the vote was, and how Hilton Head voted
Countywide, the sales tax question passed 40,951 to 39,724, a 50.8% yes share. A second question, which lets the county borrow up to $450 million against the tax so projects can start sooner, passed 42,660 to 40,276. Turnout was 60.8%. The county's own election night results report is marked unofficial until certification.
This was the county's third try. The 2022 version lost by more than 11,000 votes, WTOC reported. The 2024 proposal was larger, at $950 million, and lost 52,515 to 41,972, according to the Island Packet.
The island leaned yes more than the county as a whole. In the Bluffton Journal's precinct breakdown, precincts named Hilton Head Island and Spanish Wells voted 54.8% yes, almost four points above the countywide share. The paper notes that precinct names don't line up exactly with town limits.
Hilton Head's share of the list
Here are the projects on the county's referendum project list that are on the island or lead directly onto it, with the county's allocations:
| Project | Allocation | What the county lists it for |
|---|---|---|
| Spanish Wells Rd / William Hilton Pkwy | $39,700,000 | Gateway intersection upgrade, fewer conflict points |
| William Hilton Pkwy resurfacing | $21,294,000 | Bridge to Sea Pines Circle |
| Sea Pines Circle | $15,600,000 | Congestion, multimodal safety, visibility |
| Squire Pope Rd / William Hilton Pkwy | $14,400,000 | Gateway intersection, lane restructuring |
| Main Street Road | $9,500,000 | Parallel corridor to relieve the parkway |
| William Hilton Pkwy, Chaplin Corridor | $9,100,000 | Lane reconfiguration, fewer conflict points |
| Town of Hilton Head street resurfacing | $8,272,000 | Town-owned streets, one combined allocation |
The Spanish Wells and Squire Pope intersection projects are on the north end near the bridge. The town adopted a William Hilton Parkway Gateway Corridor Master Plan on September 15 for that area, covering U.S. 278 from the Jenkins Island bridge through Stoney to Spanish Wells and Wild Horse Road. That plan names five projects for near-term planning and engineering. It does not authorize construction or commit funding. Wexford's stretch of the parkway falls outside that corridor.
Of the money on Wexford's stretch, the larger amount goes to repaving: the $21.3 million covers the parkway from the bridge all the way to the circle. Palmetto Bay Road, the Cross Island Parkway and Pope Avenue are not on the list as separate projects.
Sea Pines Circle has a budget and an early-stage design
The $15.6 million county allocation is now on the approved list, while the circle's design is at its first stage. On August 11, Town Council voted unanimously to authorize a financial participation agreement with SCDOT. The agreement takes the circle to roughly 20 to 30% design, with preliminary drawings and an engineer's estimate. Assistant Town Manager Sean Gillan told council that no construction would happen without further municipal consent, according to Citizen Portal's account of the meeting. The town's contribution to that first phase is $300,000 from town funds.
Based on that agreement and the schedule the Island Packet reported in May, the process runs in this order:
- SCDOT brings on an engineering consultant for initial analysis and design.
- Under the May schedule, work was expected to begin in fall 2026, with preliminary designs due in spring 2027.
- The design reaches about 20 to 30%, with drawings and a cost estimate.
- The project returns to Town Council for municipal consent before any construction.
What the circle could become
The most recent concept on record is from October 2024. Kimley-Horn presented an option that would replace today's large single-lane circle with a smaller multilane roundabout. Councilmember Steve Alfred questioned the size and asked for a somewhat larger option, the Island Packet reported. The new design phase starts from that discussion. It does not start from an approved plan.
The engineering problem is the same one drivers deal with now. The circle's large diameter and uneven spacing between entries make it hard to see traffic already in the circle. An earlier Island Packet story described "queue jumping," with drivers staying in the right turn lane and merging into the correct lane at the last moment. It also reported that Kimley-Horn engineer Johnathan Guy pointed to a cluster of crashes where drivers realize too late that they are in the wrong lane. The county's project description repeats those goals: fewer conflict points, better visibility and more reliable travel times for residents and visitors.
According to Citizen Portal, some Sea Pines residents at the August meeting cautioned that the new study could revive proposals that drew controversy in the past. Now that the county allocation has passed, the circle's design is the question the town still has to answer.
Who sets the order
A citizen-led oversight committee will oversee spending, set project priorities and report on the program, according to the county's description cited by the Bluffton Journal. That committee will decide when the repaving and the circle work move ahead relative to the county's other projects. The money is split three ways: about $326 million for safety and intersection projects, $205 million for widening, and $249 million for resurfacing and paving dirt roads. Bond authority lets design and construction start before the tax revenue builds up, and the county says the bonds do not add to the total collected.
What it costs at the register
The tax is 1% on most retail purchases. It runs for up to nine years or until $780 million is collected, whichever comes first. The county's referendum page lists the exemptions: medication, gas, rent and mortgage payments, utilities, and unprepared food and groceries. In practice, groceries for cooking at home are exempt and a restaurant meal is not. WJCL reported that collection is scheduled to begin May 1, 2027.
The details above summarize the county's published description and are general information, not tax, legal or financial advice. Please confirm how the tax applies to your own purchases or business with a qualified professional.
Road projects affect how a neighborhood feels day to day, so we follow them on the stretch of William Hilton Parkway between Wexford and Sea Pines Circle. If you'd like to talk through what the circle project or the repaving could mean for a Wexford home you own or are considering, Lynne Anderson Luxury Team is glad to help. Schedule a Free Consultation and we'll share what we're seeing as the design moves forward.
