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LTAC recommends $10,000 to Friends of the Arts and $20,000 to Chamber dog festival; council to reopen short application window
Summary
The Mountlake Terrace Lodging Tax Advisory Committee recommended awarding $10,000 to Friends of the Arts for Arts the Terrace and $20,000 to the Chamber’s proposed Dog Festival; staff proposed a two-week reopening of the application window to let qualifying summer events apply for remaining funds.
Recreation and parks director Jeff Betts and events coordinator Andrew Applewick presented the lodging-tax advisory committee (LTAC) recommendation for 2025 hotel–motel tax allocations.
Betts said the city’s Studio 6 hotel on Gateway collects the city’s hotel–motel tax. The 2025 budget set aside $50,000 for lodging-tax awards; the available ending fund balance in the lodging-tax fund was roughly $250,000 before the 2025 allocation. LTAC reviewed two complete applications received by the December 19 deadline: Friends of the Arts (Arts the Terrace) requested $15,000 and the Mountlake Terrace Chamber requested $35,000 for a new dog-themed festival. LTAC recommended allocating $10,000 to Friends of the Arts and $20,000 to the Chamber’s event, leaving $20,000 unobligated of the $50,000 budgeted for 2025.
Betts described the LTAC criteria under state law: funds must support tourism, marketing, operations of special events that generate overnight visits, or tourism-related facilities. LTAC considered the applicants’ budgets, marketing plans, evidence of ability to draw attendees from outside the city and the potential to produce economic impact and overnight stays.
Because Tour de Terrace retired and that longstanding event did not apply by the deadline, staff proposed opening a two-week application window to allow other summer events — including groups seeking to preserve elements of the former event — to apply. Staff said legal reviewed the approach and that council would need to accept LTAC’s recommendations or return alternate proposals to LTAC for reconsideration.
Councilmembers supported forwarding the LTAC recommendation to the next council meeting for formal action and asked staff to place the LTAC recommendation on the agenda. Several councilmembers also supported reopening a short application window given the unusual circumstances following the retirement of a large legacy event.
Ending
Council directed staff to place the committee’s recommendation on the next council agenda for action and authorized staff to open a two-week application window for summer events to seek lodging-tax awards for the remaining budgeted funds.
