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Panel narrows eligibility for facility operating grants; excludes salaries and sets cap
Summary
The Accommodation Tax Advisory Committee adopted staff recommendations to exclude personnel expenses from facility operating grant eligibility and to cap annual operational awards at 25% of eligible operating costs or a maximum of $50,000, whichever is less; staff will tie awards to tourism metrics and require pre-application meetings.
The Beaufort County Accommodation Tax Advisory Committee voted to adopt staff recommendations that remove personnel salaries from eligibility for facility operating grants and put a cap on annual operational awards.
Staff presented a draft policy that would: (1) exclude personnel expenses for facilities from consideration for accommodation-tax-funded operating grants; and (2) limit eligible operational funding to 25% of an applicant's eligible operating budget, with the recommendation that the committee adopt a maximum of $50,000 per applicant per year, whichever is less. Staff said the tourism percentage or an applicant's tourism-derived revenue should also be used in computing eligible award amounts. The committee agreed the policy language should note that the cap and rules be reviewed annually.
Committee members raised concerns that a straight percentage cap could disadvantage smaller facilities with modest operating budgets, and asked for a hard-dollar applicant maximum. One member said the cap should be accompanied by a review mechanism and suggested tying awards to documented tourism draw. Staff clarified that reimbursement would be applied at the time of invoice submission: "When it was coming for reimbursement, we would just apply whatever that percentage is or look at what their tourism numbers are," a staff member said.
Nikki, representing the Hayward House, provided context about local facility budgets and said the Hayward House's operating costs (excluding payroll) run in the low hundreds of thousands: "HBS is about 600,000," she said, and later described hard fixed operating costs (landscaping, maintenance) in the range of roughly $160,000 after payroll is excluded. Committee members also added a requirement that any applicant meet with staff in a pre-application meeting so staff can advise on documentation and eligibility before the committee reviews an application.
The committee approved a motion to follow staff recommendations regarding museum, art and civic facility operational funds, with an added $50,000 maximum annual cap per applicant and language that the cap be tied to tourism-based calculations and reviewed annually. Staff will implement the policy change and update application guidance and scoring materials accordingly.
