The Lewis County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) is accepting applications on behalf of the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) for use of 2027 hotel and motel lodging tax funding.
Applications must be filled out online and are due by 4 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30. Late submissions will not be accepted, according to a statement from the BOCC.
LTAC volunteers will review the applications and suggest how to best distribute the hotel/motel lodging tax funding. As per RCW 67.28, the grant funds can be used for:
• Tourism marketing
• Marketing and operations of special events and festivals designed to attract tourists
• Operations and capital expenditures of tourism-related facilities owned or operated by a municipality or a public facilities district, including repayment of general obligation bonds or revenue bonds for eligible capital projects
• Operations of tourism-related facilities owned or operated by nonprofit organizations (but not capital expenditures for nonprofit organizations)
Entities that may apply for the lodging tax funding include:
• Convention and visitors’ bureaus
• Destination marketing organizations
• Nonprofits, including main street organizations, lodging associations or chambers of commerce
• Municipalities (defined as any city, town or county)
Applicants will be asked to give a presentation to the LTAC volunteers in October. The presentations are scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 15, in the commissioners’ hearing room on the second floor of the Lewis County Courthouse at 351 NW North St., Chehalis.
BOCC staff will assign the presentation times shortly after the application period closes.
Applicants will be allowed time for a five-minute presentation followed by a nine-minute question-and-answer period. Presentations also may be scheduled for the afternoon of Friday, Oct. 16, if an additional day is needed.
General information about the lodging tax grant, which is a reimbursement-only grant, can be found at https://tinyurl.com/3thjv243.
Applicants also can view a sample reimbursement checklist, which outlines the types of documentation that would be needed to submit a reimbursement request.
The application is available by visiting https://tinyurl.com/3thjv243.
The BOCC is expected to make its decision regarding 2027 funding amounts in mid-November.
For questions about the grant application process, contact Budget Analyst Rudy Rodriguez at 360-740-1233 or Clerk of the Board Rieva Lester at 360-740-1419, or send an email to TourismPromotion@lewiscountywa.gov.
