Lewis County is accepting grant applications for tourism promotion

The Lewis County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) is accepting applications – on behalf of the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) – for use of 2024 hotel/motel lodging tax funding.

The application is available by clicking on “Lodging Tax (Tourism Promotion) Grant Application” in the gray box on the left-hand side of the commissioners’ web page at https://lewiscountywa.gov/offices/commissioners/. Applications must be filled out online and are due by 3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. Late submissions will not be accepted.

LTAC volunteers will review the applications and suggest how to best distribute the hotel/motel lodging tax funding. As per RCW 67.28, the grant funds can be used for:
• Tourism marketing.
• Marketing and operations of special events and festivals designed to attract tourists.
• Operations and capital expenditures of tourism-related facilities owned or operated by a municipality or a public facilities district, including repayment of general obligation bonds or revenue bonds for eligible capital projects; or
• Operations of tourism-related facilities owned or operated by nonprofit organizations (but not capital expenditures for nonprofit organizations).

Entities that may apply for the lodging tax funding include:
• Convention and visitors’ bureaus;
• Destination marketing organizations;
• Nonprofits, including main street organizations, lodging associations, or chambers of commerce; and
• Municipalities (defined as any city, town or county).

Applicants will be asked to give a presentation to the LTAC volunteers in November. The presentations are scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023, in the Commissioners’ Hearing Room on the second floor of the Historic Courthouse at 351 N.W. North Street, Chehalis. BOCC staff will assign the presentation times shortly after the application period closes. Applicants will be allowed time for a 5-minute presentation, followed by a 9-minute question-and-answer period. (Please note that presentations also may be scheduled for the afternoon of Thursday, Nov. 1, if an additional day is needed.)

General information about the Lodging Tax grant, which is a reimbursement-only grant, can be found under the same “Lodging Tax (Tourism Promotion) Grant Application” tab that houses the application packet (https://lewiscountywa.gov/offices/commissioners/). Applicants also can view a sample Reimbursement Checklist, which outlines the types of documentation that would be needed to submit a reimbursement request.

The BOCC will make its decisions regarding 2024 funding amounts in mid-November.

For questions about the grant application process, please contact Office Assistant
Senior Kate Chatterton at 360-740-1120, Administrative Assistant Senior Tammy Martin at
360-740-1391 or Clerk of the Board Rieva Lester at 360-740-1419.