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Tourism board’s changes to event grant limits approved; TDA shifts $29,000 to airport hangar match
Summary
The Board approved recommended revisions to the tourism event grant program limiting public funding per event across five years and approved a $29,000 TDA budget amendment to contribute to the airport hangar/taxi-lane project; commissioners discussed allowing a small planning percentage in future grant rules.
Currituck County commissioners on Monday approved changes to the county’s event grant program and authorized a $29,000 budget amendment from the Tourism Development Authority to help fund the airport hangar and taxi-lane project.
Tourism director Tamlin Cameron Kuchler told the board the tourism advisory board recommended program changes after several meetings. The revisions limit a single event’s public funding to $20,000 for each of the first three years and $10,000 for each of the remaining two years. The packet summary framed that as $60,000 in total for the first three years with an additional $20,000 across years four and five under the revised policy.
Board members said the grant’s stated purpose is to act as a stimulus for new or growing events to become self-sustaining, not to create a recurring entitlement. Commissioners also relayed stakeholder feedback that the current draft forbids using grant awards for event planning expenses; some applicants — especially small nonprofits — asked the advisory board to permit a small planning allocation (suggestions included 5–10%) to allow events to be developed.
The board approved the revised guidelines and asked staff and the tourism advisory board to consider adding a small allowable planning percentage at a future meeting. Separately, the Tourism Development Authority met in the special session and approved a budget amendment to provide $29,000 toward the airport hangar project; the board, sitting as the TDA, approved that amendment and the main board acknowledged the transfer.
Ending: Staff will circulate the revised event-grant guidelines and share stakeholder feedback about planning-cost flexibility with the tourism advisory board for potential future amendment.
