The City of Columbia is accepting applications for Hospitality Tax Grant Funding for the second round of 2022/2023 Fiscal Year projects/events need to take place in the 3rd and 4th quarter of the year (January 1, 2023 – June 30, 2023).
Donor Name: City of Columbia
State: South Carolina
City: Columbia
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 10/28/2022
Grant Duration: 8 months
Details:
The Hospitality Tax Grant provides financial support to non-profit organizations and their projects/events whose mission is to attract tourists by promoting dining in the City of Columbia. To be eligible, your organization must be a nonprofit with documentation from the South Carolina Secretary of State’s Office, with activities in the City of Columbia.
Eligible Uses
Expenses must be directly in support of one of the 6 purposes of hospitality tax funding under S.C. Code 6‐1‐730:
- Tourism‐related buildings, including, but not limited to: civic centers, coliseums, and aquariums; and/or
- Tourism‐related cultural, recreational, and historic facilities; and/or
- Beach access and re‐nourishment; and/or
- Highways, roads, streets, and bridges providing access to tourist destinations; and/or
- Advertising and promotions related to the development of tourism; and/or
- Water and sewer infrastructure to serve tourism‐related demand.
B)(1) In a county where at least nine hundred thousand dollars in accommodations taxes is collected annually (pursuant to Section 12‐36‐920), revenues of the hospitality tax authorized in this article may be used for the operation and maintenance of those items provided in (1) through (6), including police, fire, emergency medical services, and emergency‐preparedness operations directly attendant to those facilities.
Grant Awards
If your funding request is granted, please be advised that Hospitality Tax funding carries the following conditions:
- Approved grants are not guaranteed payment unless guidelines are followed.
- The City has the right to audit the organizations funded. (Ex: Looking at their books or attending the events.) This includes access to all records of expenditures. Organizations are required to retain original documents for a minimum of 3 years.
- Recipient organizations are subject to ongoing evaluations by City staff. The goal of these evaluations is to encourage self‐sufficiency for each organization or program funded with the use of additional or alternative funding sources.
- Grantees are required to include the City of Columbia logo, as well as the Experience Columbia SC logo on all program/project advertising, marketing and promotional materials.
Grant Duration
(December 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023)
Eligibility Criteria
In order to receive H‐tax funding, organizations/projects/events must meet the following eligibility requirements:
- Organization/program/event must meet one of the stated uses described in South Carolina State Law S.C. Code 6‐1‐730 for Hospitality Tax Uses
- Organization or fiscal agent must provide proof of their non‐profit status with documentation from the South Carolina Secretary of State Office or be exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(C) of the Internal Revenue Code whose primary goal is to attract additional visitors through tourism promotion (letter of exemption from the IRS must be provided).
- Organization/Project/Event must be in the City of Columbia limits.
- Organization/Project/Event must promote the attraction of tourist and promote dining in the City of Columbia. Columbia City Council has determined a tourist to be anyone traveling from outside of the city limits.
- All projects/events must be completed during the 3rd and 4th quarter of the fiscal year in which they are funded. Project must take place between January 1, and ends by June 30.
- Grant funds requested must be for eligible expenditures only (as listed in the Project Expense Eligibility Criteria and Budget Expense sections below.)
- A completed application must be submitted by October 28, 2022 for consideration.
- If funding is approved for an event, the event must be marketed and open to the public.
For more information, visit Hospitality Tax Grant.
