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<br /> <br /> <br />Background <br />Kittitas County imposes a lodging tax assessed on the sale or charge made for furnishings of <br />lodging according to RCW 67.28.180 and RCW 67.28.181. In accordance with the tax and <br />Washington State law, a Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) has also been established. <br />The committees’ purpose is to advise and recommend to the Board of County Commissioners <br />how excise taxes on lodging should be allocated to support tourism which in turn generates <br />revenue. <br /> <br />Uses According to Law: <br />RCW 67.28.1816 states the following: <br /> <br />Lodging tax revenues under this chapter may be used, directly by any municipality or indirectly <br />through a convention and visitor bureau or destination marketing organization for: …(c) <br />Supporting the operations and capital expenditures of tourism-related facilities owned or <br />operated by a municipality… <br /> <br />Definitions included in state law which should be considered in any application requesting <br />funding include: <br />1. Tourism means economic activity resulting from tourists, which may include sales of <br />overnight lodging, meals, tours, gifts, or souvenirs. <br />2. Tourism promotion means activities, operations, and expenditures designed to <br />increase tourism, including but not limited to advertising, publicizing, or otherwise <br />distributing information for the purpose of attracting and welcoming tourists; <br />developing strategies to expand tourism; operating tourism promotion agencies; <br />and funding marketing or the operation of special events and festivals designated to <br />attract tourists. <br />3. Tourism-related facility means real or tangible personal property with a usable life of <br />three or more years, or constructed with volunteer labor that is: (a) (i) owned by a <br />public entity; …and (b) used to support tourism, performing arts, or to accommodate <br />tourist activities. <br /> <br />Grant Program Description <br />This grant program is one component of an overall strategy to enhance the economic value of <br />tourism in Kittitas County. The intent of the program is to develop and implement a Capital <br />Improvement Plan (CIP) for developing tourism-related, large-scale municipality-owned <br />projects throughout the County which contribute to that strategy. <br /> <br />Kittitas County Tourism Infrastructure Plan: <br />As the basis for developing this grant program and the CIP, the Board of County Commissioners <br />(BOCC) adopted the Kittitas County Tourism Infrastructure Plan. The plan includes, among <br />other things, an inventory of tourism-related facilities across the County, an evaluation of <br />potential tourism opportunities, goals for guiding tourism development, and a list of prioritized <br />Lodging Tax Grant Program for Tourism-Related, Large- <br />Scale, Municipality-Owned Capital Projects