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Bandera council approves HOT‑tax reimbursements for local events with conditions
Summary
Council approved a package of hotel occupancy tax reimbursements — including awards for Frontier Times Museum, Bandera Pro Rodeo events and the Riding on Faith series — subject to submission of supporting documentation and policy limits on total HOT spending.
The City of Bandera discussed and approved a set of hotel‑occupancy‑tax (HOT) reimbursement requests at the Sept. 24 meeting, subject to staff verification of receipts and policy limits.
Staff presented a spreadsheet of incoming applications and noted that under the city’s new reimbursement‑only policy, only four of seven applications were immediately eligible because some requested funding for future events. After review and debate about budget caps and per‑applicant limits, the council approved conditional awards for several events.
The motion approved (amounts stated in the council motion) included $2,150 for Frontier Times Museum (spring‑break family days); $7,000 for the Bandera Pro Rodeo Memorial Day weekend; $3,500 for the Bandera Pro Rodeo Labor Day event; $9,000 for the Riding on Faith summer series (2023 expenses); and a not‑to‑exceed $8,500 cap for VBA events split across their submissions, contingent on submission of full supporting documentation to staff within the next week. Staff and council discussed that the HOT policy caps spending at no more than 50% of the annual HOT budget and that individual recipients cannot receive more than 25% of the annual amount.
Why it matters: HOT reimbursements are a local revenue redistribution mechanism that supports tourism and events; the council balanced promoting events with adhering to the new reimbursement policy and fund limits.
Next steps: staff will verify submitted receipts and bring back formal resolutions for approved awards at the next regular meeting; amounts may be adjusted downward to meet policy caps and documentation requirements.
