The City of Alpine is pleased to announce its Hotel Occupancy Tax Grant Program.
Donor Name: City of Alpine
State: Texas
City: Alpine
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 05/05/2023
Grant Duration: 1 year
Details:
Priority for Hotel Tax Funds
Priority will be given to those events and entities who show the ability to generate overnight visitors to the City of Alpine. If an event will not generate any meaningful overnight business for Alpine’s hotels, it is not eligible for receipt of hotel occupancy tax funds. Events can prove this potential to generate overnight visitors by: historic information on the number of room nights used during previous years of the same events;
- current information on the size of a room block that has been reserved at area hotels to accommodate anticipated overnight guests attending the event requesting hotel tax funds.
- historical information on the number of guests at hotels or other lodging facilities that attended the funded event; and/or
- examples of marketing of the programs and activities that will generate or encourage overnight visitors to local lodging properties.
Grant Categories
Each grant application should include a budget and indicate the HOT Categories (Advertising, Promotion of the Arts, etc) intended for its planned expenses. Please note that there are legal requirements and/or limitations on certain categories that may affect the availability of funds under those categories:
- Advertising: Alpine is legally required to spend at least 50% of each year’s collected HOT funds on Advertising.
- Promotion of the Arts: A maximum of 15% of HOT revenues can be spent under Promotion of the Arts.
- Historical Restoration and Preservation: A maximum of 15% of HOT revenues can be spent under Historical Restoration and Preservation
Grant Period
All funded services or advertisements must be delivered and invoiced within the 2023-2024 fiscal year, starting no earlier than October 1, 2023 and ending no later than September 30, 2024.
Uses of Fund
Texas Tax Code Chapter 351 allows the City of Alpine to collect Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) from hotels, motels, bed & breakfasts and inns. Under state law, the revenue from the HOT may be used only to directly promote tourism and the convention and hotel industry and may be used for the following:
- Convention Centers and Visitor Information Centers: acquisition of sites for and the construction, improvement, enlarging, equipping, repairing, operation, and maintenance of convention center facilities or visitor information centers, or both;
- Registration of Convention Delegates: furnishing of facilities, personnel, and materials for the registration of convention delegates or registrants;
- Advertising, Solicitations and Promotions that Directly Promote Tourism and the Hotel and Convention Industry: advertising and conducting solicitations and promotional programs to attract tourists and convention delegates or registrants to the municipality or its vicinity utilizing media outlets that are outside of Brewster, Jeff Davis and Presidio Counties (with the provisional exception of Presidio);
- Promotions of the Arts that Directly Promote Tourism and the Hotel and Convention Industry: encouragement, promotion, improvement, and application of the arts, including instrumental and vocal music, dance, drama, folk art, creative writing, architecture, design and allied fields, painting, sculpture, photography, graphic and craft arts, motion pictures, radio, television, tape and sound recording, and other arts related to presentation, performance, execution, and exhibition of these major art forms;
- Historical Restoration and Preservation Activities that Directly Promote Tourism and the Hotel and Convention Industry: historical restoration and preservation projects or activities or advertising and conducting solicitations and promotional programs to encourage tourists and convention delegates to visit preserved historic sites or museums; Sporting Event Expenses that Substantially Increase Economic Activity at hotels: expenses, including promotion expenses, directly related to a sporting event in which the majority of participants are tourists who substantially increase economic activity at hotels and motels within the municipality or its vicinity;
- Transportation System: transportation services that start or end at hotel or convention center or attraction offered to hotel guests at no charge;
- Signage: permanent signage that directs the public to sights and attractions frequently visited by hotel guests.
Eligibility Criteria
The City of Alpine accepts applications from groups and businesses whose program fits into one or more of the above categories. Non-profit and for-profit entities are equally eligible for HOT funding – the priority for HOT grants is to increase revenues for Alpine’s hotel and lodging industry. All requests for funds should be submitted in writing, accompanied by the official application, to the City Secretary. Based on the application, the City’s HOT Grants Committee will review and make recommendations to the City Council. The Committee is appointed by the City Council, with ex officio participation by the City Manager and Director of Tourism.
For more information, visit City of Alpine.
