Council sets aside portion of lodging tax for nonprofits that boost tourism
The Gig Harbor City Council agreed last week to set aside $125,000 a year for grants to nonprofits that bring tourists to the city.
During the Aug. 24 meeting council approved a resolution which sets aside about around one-fourth of the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) funds to offer grants from the the Tourism and Communications Department to non-profits for projects or events that drive tourists to Gig Harbor in 2021.
LTAC funds are collected by the state throughout the year from hotel stays in city limits. They are then distributed annually from the state to the city.
“LTAC Funds are used to draw in more people to Gig Harbor and increase revenue to local businesses,” said Laura Pettitt, the cities Tourism and Communication director.
State law allows LTAC money to be used for four categories: tourism and marketing funds, capital projects that support tourism, destination marketing — outreach to meetings and corporate events; and marketing or operational costs for tourism events that attract people from over 50 miles away.
Of the $125,000, the funds can be distributed to fund up to six projects at $20,000 apiece. An additional $5,000 will be set aside for emerging events, festivals or non-profit tourism facilities.
Pettitt said it is important for the city to forecast how much money they will spend each year on tourism, and what they can spend the money on.
“It is why restaurants have menus,” Pettitt said. “If you don’t know what is available for you, you won’t ask for it.”
Council Member Robyn Denson added an amendment to the resolution which directs LTAC to work with the city’s Marketing and Tourism department to establish a long-term formula moving forward.
This amendment was passed, 7-0. The resolution was passed shortly after.
The 2021 applications will come out in early September.
“We encourage new and emerging events,” Pettitt said. “There is $5,000 that is allocated toward a beginning or upstarting event. We want to encourage the next generation to be creative and showcase what is great about Gig Harbor.”
In other business, the council:
Authorized the Mayor to sign a professional service contract with Insightlink for $4,500. This outside party will conduct an employee engagement survey with the city’s employees.
Briefly spoke about an ordinance which would modify the terms of several advisory bodies. One of these modifications would get rid of term limits for the planning commission, the design and review board, arts commission, and parks commission. Some council members expressed concern about this change, so a possible amendment can be made when this ordinance is brought back for second reading on September 14.
This story was originally published September 2, 2020 at 12:00 AM.