Florence council approves $880,750 in accommodations-tax grants to 22 organizations

The Florence City Council voted to appropriate $880,750 in accommodations-tax funds for fiscal year 2025–26, awarding grants to 22 organizations from 24 applications. The council passed the appropriation after a presentation by the accommodations tax committee and its representative.

Tim Norwood presented the committee’s recommendations, reporting that the committee received 24 requests totaling $1,399,000 and that the available funds for grants this year totalled $880,750. The awards were divided among sports tourism, arts and culture, convention support and quality-of-life festivals.

Norwood said the committee funded 22 organizations and that the committee’s decisions were based on categories that included sports tourism and events likely to promote visitors and local quality-of-life programming. The council moved and seconded the appropriation and recorded the vote as passed; the transcript records the action as "the ayes have it." The council did not record member-by-member vote tallies on the public audio.

The committee indicated the full list of funded organizations will be recorded in the committee’s paperwork. Council members confirmed the approval before moving on to other agenda items.

Context and next steps: the committee said it will distribute funds to the approved organizations. The city clerk or accommodations-tax board will follow normal disbursement procedures and invoicing; no changes to the city budget line item were described on the record other than the total awarded.

Noted amounts and counts: 24 organizations applied; the total requested was $1,399,000; 22 organizations were funded for a combined total of $880,750. No further breakdown by recipient was read into the public record during the council meeting.