Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Ltac Allocations topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Clallam County advisory committee approves roughly $282,000 in lodging‑tax grants for local events and visitor services
Summary
The Clallam County Lodging Tax Advisory Committee approved about $282,000 in grants to support local events, visitor centers and marketing, including $50,000 for the Port Angeles Waterfront District and $90,000 for a parks/fairgrounds marketing plan. Committee members asked applicants to provide clearer post‑event metrics for room nights and expenditures.
The Clallam County Lodging Tax Advisory Committee voted to fund a slate of 2026 programming and operations after hearing from event organizers and visitor‑center representatives.
Committee members approved voice‑vote motions to allocate approximately $282,000 in total to multiple applicants. Major awards included $50,000 to the Port Angeles Waterfront District, $30,000 to the Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce for the Winter Ice Village, $30,000 to West End Thunder (Forks drag racing), $17,000 to Arts in Action (chalk festival), $25,000 to the Olympic Peninsula Fungi Festival, and $90,000 for a county parks/fairgrounds marketing proposal. Smaller awards went to visitor centers and community broadcasts, including $15,000 for the Clallam Bay visitor center and $7,000 for Sequim Community Broadcasting’s Music in the Park.
The committee’s chair (speaker 3) said the funding round responds to local organizers who bring visitors and hotel room nights to the county, while reminding applicants that partial awards should include explanations of how reduced funding would affect programs. “I would ask for any of the presenters to talk about our full funding — if you're not allocated the full amount, what happens,” the chair said during the meeting.
Presenters described expected impacts. Sam Grello, executive director of the Port Angeles Waterfront District, told the panel the requested funds would support off‑season activations and promotional campaigns intended to draw conference and weekend visitors; he said partial funding would reduce the scale but not cancel planned activities. George Doolan, president of Sequim Community Broadcasting, said a $7,000 request would cover rented sound equipment and a stage manager for a 10‑week Music in the Park series that organizers say helps keep weekday visitors in town.
Committee members repeatedly asked for clearer metrics tying asks to “heads and beds.” Several members praised examples of concrete data: the Port Angeles Winter Ice Village tracks visitor ZIP codes and reported roughly 22% out‑of‑county participation, which committee members said makes grant outcomes easier to measure.
The panel also discussed an apparent reporting anomaly in lodging‑tax remittances for earlier months; staff said some hotels had not filed timely reports and Sequim’s finance staff is investigating. The committee agreed to monitor receipts over the next reporting cycle before taking further action.
A series of motions to approve each award passed by voice vote; a number of members recused themselves on specific items when conflicts were noted. The committee asked recipients to provide post‑event reports with the same metrics discussed at application time — total attendance, overnight stays, and a short summary of how LTAC funds were spent.
The committee will post final allocations and expects many grantees to submit follow‑up data after their events.
