TO: Members of the City Council
FROM: Mayor Angela Birney
DEPARTMENT DIRECTOR CONTACT(S):
|
Planning and Community Development |
Carol V. Helland |
425-556-2107 |
DEPARTMENT STAFF:
|
Planning and Community Development |
Seraphie Allen |
Deputy Director |
|
Planning and Community Development |
Philly Marsh |
Planning Manager, Economic Development |
|
Planning and Community Development |
Jackie Lalor |
Program Administrator, Tourism |
TITLE:
title
Approval of the 2023 Tourism Funding Recommendations
OVERVIEW STATEMENT:
recommendation
Council is being asked to approve the unanimous recommendation of the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) for allocation of the 2023 Tourism matching grants in the amount of $154,000 and City Community Events and Cultural Arts Programs allocations in the amount of $146,000. These grants are paid for from the 1% lodging tax on Redmond hotels and motels through the Tourism Fund.
body
☒ Additional Background Information/Description of Proposal Attached
REQUESTED ACTION:
☐ Receive Information ☐ Provide Direction ☒ Approve
REQUEST RATIONALE:
• Relevant Plans/Policies:
Comprehensive Plan, Long-Term Recovery Plan, RMC Title 4
• Required:
N/A
• Council Request:
N/A
• Other Key Facts:
• The Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 67.28.180 provides authority for cities to adopt a lodging tax.
• The City of Redmond has adopted a 1% lodging tax rate and may invest these revenues into events or programs that attract visitors to Redmond.
• A lodging tax of 1% is collected from overnight stays at hotels located within Redmond and allocates these revenues to the Lodging Tax Fund (“Tourism Fund”).
• As defined by RCW 67.28, the purpose of the Lodging Tax Fund is to increase tourism in Redmond by attracting visitors from more than 50 miles away, especially overnight visitors who stay in Redmond hotels.
• In 2005, City Council approved the distribution of lodging tax funds to be as follows: 50% marketing, 39% city events and arts, 9% grants, and 2% administration.
• Community tourism grants are typically used to fund event marketing, operations of special events, festivals, and/or tournaments.
Criteria: Applications are reviewed against the tourism program fund criteria, which prioritizes:
• Tourism Promotion: attract external visitors and overnight stays
• Benefit to the community
• Innovation
• Overnight stays
• Community support
• Partnerships
• The scale of the project
• Other funding sources and
• New or ongoing funding
Applicant Scoring:
Per Council’s feedback from January 2020 and additional feedback from November 2021, the grant application criteria were broken out and application components that support the criteria were assigned points. Each application received a weighted ranking. However, due to limited funding this year, recommendations were primarily based on past dollars given. In the future, when more funding is available, the intent is to award additional dollars to the higher-scoring applicants. Staff will continue to incorporate Council, LTAC, and community feedback to improve the funding process.
Lodging Tax Fund Performance:
Due to the impacts of the pandemic on the hotel and motel industry, the tourism fund experienced a 66% decrease in 2020. Although there are strong signs of improvement, the fund is not yet projected to fully recover until 2025. Fortunately, an end-fund balance intended for unexpected events is currently around $800,000 and is being used to help supplement some of this year’s grants.
Staff and Finance worked together to budget $150,000 for 2023 community grants which is well above the 9% allocated in the fund for these grants. Staff and the LTAC felt the additional fund allocation was necessary to invest in the events that attract tourists back to Redmond. Staff plan to meet with Council in Q1 of 2023 to further discuss the lodging tax fund and to review how the 2022 lodging tax fund performed in the ongoing recovery of the pandemic.
Conflicts of Interest in Recommending Applicants:
Conflicts of interest with applicants are common on this committee due to the state requirement that members must either be an entity for which the tax is charged or an entity that might receive grant dollars. Conflicts of interest are noted in the full scoring spreadsheet. Members were not asked to recuse themselves from the recommendation vote or discussion per the MRSC guidance. However, staff did request that if a personal financial interest was involved, a recusal would be requested. No personal financial interests were present or noted.
OUTCOMES:
Applications Received: The City received 18 external grant applications from non-profit and for-profit organizations and two funding applications from City Community Events and Cultural Arts programming. LTAC recommends funding 17 of 18 community applications that demonstrated alignment with the grant criteria and tourism goals in addition to the City Community Events and Cultural Arts programming.
One event application, the International Stew Festival by OneRedmond Foundation, was not recommended for approval as the application outlined an event concept and not a developed or detailed event plan. The applying organization turned in three other applications for events that were recommended for funding. The organization is aware that one of its applications was not recommended for funding.
The LTAC 2023 tourism grant recommendations include:
|
Event/Applicant |
Estimated Attendance |
Estimated Paid Nights |
LTAC Recommendations |
Recommendation Dollars Per Lodging Night |
|
Crossfire Challenge |
22,500 |
8,400 |
$ 30,000 |
$ 3.57 |
|
PNW ChalkFest |
95,000 |
236 |
$ 19,000 |
$ 80.51 |
|
Crossfire Select Cup |
30,000+ |
4,500 |
$ 16,500 |
$ 3.67 |
|
Ananda Mela |
20,000 |
200 |
$ 13,000 |
$ 65.00 |
|
Cinco de Mayo |
10,000 |
50 |
$ 10,000 |
$ 200.00 |
|
ColorFest (Northwest Share) |
8,000 |
100 |
$ 8,000 |
$ 80.00 |
|
SecondStory Rep |
500 |
30 |
$ 8,000 |
$ 266.67 |
|
USA Gymnastics |
750 |
100 |
$ 8,000 |
$ 80.00 |
|
Vegan Festival (Northwest Share) |
8,000 |
60 |
$ 8,000 |
$ 133.33 |
|
Winter Festival (OneRedmond Foundation) |
2,000 |
40 |
$ 7,500 |
$ 187.50 |
|
Redmond Arts Festival (VALA) |
15,000 |
200 |
$ 7,000 |
$ 35.00 |
|
Vision Grand Prix- Track Cycling (Marymoor Velodrome Association) |
3,000 |
150 |
$ 7,000 |
$ 46.67 |
|
NAMI Youth Mental Health Conference |
250 |
15 |
$ 4,000 |
$ 266.67 |
|
JBMV Junior Take Over (Marymoor Velodrome Association) |
1,000 |
60 |
$ 3,000 |
$ 50.00 |
|
Redmond Wine Walk (OneRedmond Foundation) |
300 |
30 |
$ 2,000 |
$ 66.67 |
|
NAMI Fundraising GALA |
150 |
25 |
$ 1,500 |
$ 60.00 |
|
Simon (OneRedmond Foundation) |
300 |
20 |
$ 1,500 |
$ 75.00 |
|
International Stew Festival (OneRedmond Foundation) |
2,000 |
50 |
$ - |
$ - |
|
TOTAL DOLLARS |
$154,000 |
39% of lodging funds are allocated for community events and arts programming
|
CITY Community Events |
38,000 |
250 |
$ 100,000 |
$ 400.00 |
|
CITY Cultural Arts Programming |
15,000 |
100 |
$ 46,000 |
$ 460.00 |
|
TOTAL DOLLARS |
$146,000 |
COMMUNITY/STAKEHOLDER OUTREACH AND INVOLVEMENT:
• Timeline (previous or planned):
Application window was August 1-16
• Outreach Methods and Results:
o Application notification via e-mail to past participants
o Application window notification via eNews and press release
o Application messaging through local partners
• Feedback Summary:
N/A
BUDGET IMPACT:
Total Cost:
A total of $154,000 for matching grants and $146,000 for City Community Events and Cultural Arts Programming is recommended by the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee by unanimous vote for City Council’s approval.
Approved in current biennial budget: ☒ Yes ☐ No ☐ N/A
Budget Offer Number:
000250 - Community and Economic Development
Budget Priority:
Vibrant and Connected
Other budget impacts or additional costs: ☐ Yes ☐ No ☒ N/A
If yes, explain:
N/A
Funding source(s):
Lodging Tax
Budget/Funding Constraints:
N/A
☐ Additional budget details attached
COUNCIL REVIEW:
Previous Contact(s)
|
Date |
Meeting |
Requested Action |
|
10/4/2022 |
Committee of the Whole - Planning and Public Works |
Review Information |
Proposed Upcoming Contact(s)
|
Date |
Meeting |
Requested Action |
|
|
None proposed at this time |
N/A |
Time Constraints:
To allow adequate time for applicants to plan appropriately with their available funding, we would like to complete the grant approval process no later than December 1, 2022
ANTICIPATED RESULT IF NOT APPROVED:
If the LTAC recommendation is not approved, proposed events would not receive matching grant funds from the City and may be unable to proceed as planned.
ATTACHMENTS:
A. Grant Application Recommendations Simplified Matrix Spreadsheet
B. Grant Application Recommendations Detailed Matrix Spreadsheet
C. Tourism Fund and LTAC FAQ
D. Slides
E. 2023 List of Grant Applicants
F. LTAC Meeting Minutes, August 29 <https://www.redmond.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_08292022-969>