Application for 2025 lodging tax funding

>>>>> APPLICATION DEADLINE IS 4 P.M. FRIDAY, OCT. 4, 2024

The Lewis County Board of County Commissioners is accepting – on behalf of the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) – applications for the use of lodging tax funds for the 2025 budget year from nonprofits and governmental organizations whose programs or activities promote tourism in the unincorporated areas of Lewis County.

"Tourism promotion," as defined in RCW 67.28.080, means activities, operations and expenditures designed to increase tourism, including but not limited to advertising, publicizing or otherwise distributing information for the purpose of attracting and welcoming tourists; developing strategies to expand tourism; operating tourism promotion agencies; and funding the marketing of or the operation of special events and festivals designed to attract tourists.

ONLINE APPLICATION

The application is an online document located here: https://lewiscounty.formstack.com/forms/lodging_tax_application_2025

INFORMATIONAL DOCUMENTS

To view an overview about the Lodging Tax, click here.

To view the Sept. 4, 2024, press release about the launch of the application process, click here.

To view a sample reimbursement form, which details the kind of information entities must submit to access the funds, please click here.

Please note that awardees may be asked to provide a current W-9.

APPLICANTS' IN-PERSON PRESENTATIONS WILL BE OCT. 24, 2024

Applicants will be asked to give a presentation to the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) members in October. The presentations are scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024, in the Commissioners’ Hearing Room, 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 Friday, Oct. 25, if additional time is needed.)

Staff will reach out with information about how to submit PowerPoints, etc., for use during the presentations.

WHO CAN APPLY

The entities that may apply for Lodging Tax funding are:

  • 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).

WHAT CAN THE FUNDING BE USED FOR

The Lodging Tax grant is a reimbursement-only grant that can be used for the following:

  • 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 municipalities or public facilities districts, 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).

ANY QUESTIONS?

For questions about the application process, please contact Financial Analyst Rudy Rodriguez at 360-740-1233 or Clerk of the Board Rieva Lester at 360-740-1419 or send an email to tourismpromotion@lewiscountywa.gov.

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