Fortunately, a dispute between Myrtle Beach and the state committee that oversees the way accommodations taxes are spent has been settled.

The oversight committee had questioned the city giving the room tax money to such groups as the Long Bay Symphony, the Grand Strand Senior Center and the Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum.

The 2 percent tax levied on lodging is intended to be spent on tourism, and rightfully so. Tourism, more than any other industry in the state, fuels South Carolina's economic engine.

The dispute arose over the committee defining a tourist as someone who travels 50 miles or more. But that definition is not stated in the laws governing the tax, and it is not up to the committee to add to the law.

Committee Chairman Frans Mustert said last week that the panel intended the 50-mile rule as a guideline, not as a rule. That was not the impression left with Myrtle Beach officials when the committee questioned the grants in April.

Other towns and counties also scrambled to document how many tourists participated in funded events.

There's nothing magical about 50 miles. If the committee's stance was meant to emphasize that the purpose of accommodations tax is to promote tourism, we agree. But who's to say that a person who travels 20 miles or 40 miles to an event isn't a tourist?

Actually, if there were a 50-mile rule, that shouldn't be a difficult standard for most governments along the Grand Strand to meet. Most events in our tourist-rich area have heavy participation by tourists.

The best decisions about how to spend tax money can be made by those closest to the situation. The committee shouldn't try to micromanage.