The City of Gig Harbor is accepting applications for its 2025 Lodging Tax Grants.
Donor Name: City of Gig Harbor
State: Washington
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 08/30/2024
Size of the Grant: Not Available
Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned
Details:
What is the Lodging Tax Fund?
Funding for this program comes from the City of Gig Harbor lodging tax fund which receives a percentage of hotel/motel taxes from lodging establishments inside the city limits. The city collects a tax on charges for overnight lodging. These funds are distributed by the Department of Revenue back to the City of Gig Harbor for the funding of tourism related capital facilities, non- event operations, and event marketing and operations.
Uses of Lodging Tax
Revised Code of Washington (RCW), Chapter 67.28 ‘Public Stadium, Convention, Arts and Tourism Facilities’ provides detailed information about the use, award and reporting of tourism funds.
- Tourism: Economic activity resulting from tourists, which may include sales of overnight lodging, meals, tours, gifts, or souvenirs
- Tourism promotion: 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.
- Tourism-related facility: Real or tangible personal property with a usable life of three or more years, or constructed with volunteer labor, and used to support tourism, performing arts, or to accommodate tourist activities.
Who may Apply?
- Lodging tax funding is open to non-profit organizations and municipalities with the demonstrated ability to achieve tourism related goals as outlined below:
- Increase hotel/lodging occupancy in the City of Gig Harbor by creating overnight stays.
- Increase the number of visitors to the city from more than 50 miles away.
- All applications must include estimates of how funding the activity will result in increases to people staying overnight, travelling 50 miles away or more, or coming from another state or country. To ensure this data is collected, the city is required to have applicants provide additional information in the lodging tax application.
The City of Gig Harbor Lodging Tax Advisory Committee considerations
In developing its recommendations, the committee may consider:
- The estimated amount of lodging tax funds available for the coming year as provided by the city’s finance department.
- Thoroughness and completeness of the proposal.
- Percent of the proposal request to the event/facility promotions budget and overall revenues.
- Percent of increase over prior year City of Gig Harbor lodging tax funded proposals, if any.
- Projected economic impact within the City of Gig Harbor, in particular projected overnight stays in Gig Harbor lodging establishments.
- The applicant’s financial stability.
- The applicant’s history of tourism promotion success.
- Committee member general knowledge of the community and tourism-related activities.
For more information, visit City of Gig Harbor.
