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Council reviews 'Open Rewards' restaurant-rebate app; legal advice sought on hotel-tax use
Summary
City staff outlined an 'Open Rewards' program using vendor BlueDot to deliver about 10% cash-back to customers at eligible local restaurants, with a vendor fee (~$5,600/year) and an estimated 6–8 qualifying businesses; council sent the matter for legal review under the Texas Government Code and took no action at the meeting.
City staff briefed the Rowlett City Council on March 2 about a proposed 'Open Rewards' program intended to promote locally owned restaurants by offering customer rebates via a vendor-managed app.
Presenter Mylan Wen described the program mechanics: customers would upload receipts to the app and "receive 10 payback from receiving the coupon," while restaurants would be reimbursed a small share (staff described it as about 1% of the sale with no discounting). Wen said the vendor selected to administer the program is BlueDot and staff estimated an administration fee in the neighborhood of $5,600 for one year.
The program would limit participation to locally owned restaurants that are members of the Rowlett Chamber and in good standing; staff estimated roughly "6 to 8" currently qualified businesses, while acknowledging that as many as about 20 locally owned restaurants exist and some would need to join the Chamber to participate. Councilors raised concerns that the pool of eligible local restaurants was small and that an advertising strategy would be required to attract outside visitors who might use the app.
Council discussed funding the incentives with hotel-occupancy-tax (HOT) revenue and the presiding official recommended obtaining legal advice before moving forward. The matter was listed for executive-session legal consultation under the Texas Government Code; the council convened in executive session and later returned to open session, with staff reporting both executive-session items were concluded "with no action taken."
Staff noted the program is portable—customers could use the app in other participating jurisdictions—and that there are similar programs in other cities (staff named examples such as Richmond Hills and Pasadena). Councilors asked whether the rebate could instead be deposited to a local 'wallet' to be spent only at local retailers; staff said both models are possible but recommended starting with direct cash back.
Next steps identified by staff were additional legal review of HOT-fund eligibility, further development of a regional advertising strategy and follow-up reporting to council. No formal vote or contract award occurred at the work session.
