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Tourism committee recommends $324,567 in TRT awards after review of $1.12 million in applications
Summary
The Tooele County tourism committee recommended $324,567 in Tourism Reinvestment (TRT) funding for marketing and capital projects out of $1,122,146 in requests; the board flagged application-portal issues and recommended applicant training and clearer submission requirements.
Tyler Guy, chairman of the county tourism board, told the Tooele County Council that the committee reviewed $1,122,146 in requests and recommended $324,567 in awards from a $370,000 TRT allocation. He said the committee followed scoring guidelines and conducted follow-up outreach where applicants’ submissions lacked supporting documents.
"The committee spent considerable time reviewing, evaluating, and scoring each application submitted for consideration," Guy said, summarizing the process and the recommended funding totals. He added that the committee prepared review sheets for each application and identified additional potential funding resources for some applicants.
The presentation listed recommended grants ranging from small community events to larger destination projects. The Tooele Pioneer Museum received a full recommendation for a $676 request; the board recommended $100,000 (half) for the Utah Motorsports Campus (UMC) out of a $200,000 request after extended review; smaller events such as the arts festival and gravel races were recommended in full or in part. Guy and tourism director Chris McCormack told council members the committee sometimes could not access attachments uploaded to the application portal and had to collect missing information by phone.
"The only thing that was available to be accessed on the system was the W-9s that were submitted. Anything else beyond that just became like a ghost link and no way to access it," Guy said, explaining why the committee reached out to applicants for supplemental documentation.
Council members asked for clearer metrics and post-award reporting to measure return on investment. Councilman Wardle recommended adding the county logo and a sponsorship credit to materials produced with TRT funds so taxpayers see the county’s support.
The tourism committee also proposed a required training component for applicants—either in-person or online—to reduce future application errors. Guy said that recommendation is intended to improve the quality of future submissions and make the review process more efficient.
The council treated the recommendations as a discussion item and will revisit the allocations at a subsequent meeting for any formal vote or adjustments. Several council members praised the committee’s diligence and suggested staff and board leaders meet with applicants (for example, Wendover and Grantsville) to clarify eligibility before awards are finalized.
