Spokane Valley details 2026 lodging-tax grant rules; Sept. 30 application deadline

City of Spokane Valley staff on a technical assistance webinar detailed rules and deadlines for the city's 2026 lodging-tax grant program, emphasizing a Sept. 30 application deadline and a required in-person presentation to the city's Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC).

The presentation, led by Sarah Farr, accounting and finance program manager for the City of Spokane Valley, explained who may apply, what expenses are eligible under state and local rules, and key submission requirements. Farr said, "This is our 2026 lodging tax grant, technical assistance workshop." She repeated that "This year is 09/30/2025 before 4PM," and that the required presentation to the LTAC "is an in person presentation."

The detail matters because Washington law allows municipalities to impose lodging taxes and to spend those revenues only on enumerated tourism-related purposes. Farr told attendees the city's lodging tax total is 3.3 percent, split into a 2 percent portion that may be used for any state-authorized lodging-tax purpose and a 1.3 percent portion that the City Council has limited to capital expenditures for large sporting venues or tourism-related…