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Council considers 'Open Rewards' restaurant rebate program; staff to seek legal advice on HOT fund use
Summary
Staff proposed an 'Open Rewards' app-based rebate for local independent restaurants (10% payoff to customers) administered by vendor Blue Dot; staff estimated a vendor fee around $5,600 and 6–8 eligible businesses; council moved the legal discussion to executive session and took no action tonight.
At the work session, staff outlined an "Open Rewards" program intended to stimulate local restaurants by offering customers a 10% payback when they upload receipts to an app administered by vendor Blue Dot. The program is modeled on pilots in other North Texas cities; participating businesses would need to be locally owned and members of the Rowlett Chamber and in good standing with the city.
"Customer received 10% payback on the CD," the presenter said while explaining how receipts and customer paybacks would function through the app. Staff explained the vendor would provide fraud control, reporting, and performance tracking and that the administration cost for the vendor is about $5,600 per year. "It's a 1 time fee about, 5,000, 5,600?" a staff member said when asked about the vendor price. Council asked staff to seek attorney guidance on whether hotel occupancy tax (HOT) funds can be used for the program; the council discussed the idea further in executive session but returned with "both items were completed with no action taken."
