Chehalis City Council Approves Lodging Tax Recipients for 2020

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The Chehalis City Council on Monday approved $279,435 in 2020 lodging tax money to be allocated to several organizations, with some of the largest amounts going to the Chehalis-Centralia Railroad & Museum and the Lewis County Historical Museum.

The council also approved the reappointment of members of the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) including Gloria Choi, Alicia Bull, Jena Sorenson, Todd Chaput, and Chip Duncan. 

At an LTAC meeting on Sept. 24, the committee reviewed twelve requests from ten different organizations for 2020 tourism funds, according to meeting minutes. The allocated funds would be used for marketing, activities, operations, and expenditures designed to promote tourism. 

The City of Chehalis’ estimated lodging tax revenues for 2020 total $430,483. A total of $125,000 was not available for grants, including $50,000 set aside as a reserve for projects and activities that may come up throughout the year and an amount not to exceed $75,000 per year as a debt payment service for the Recreation Park project. The estimated bond payment for the Recreation Park project in 2020 is $63,395.91, leaving an estimated total of $317,087.09 for lodging tax grants. 

The organizations that requested a portion of the lodging tax included: Chehalis & Centralia Railroad and Museum (requested: $60,000, allocated $50,000), Lewis County Historical Museum (requested $45,000, allocated $40,000), Veterans Memorial Museum (requested and allocated $30,000), Chehalis Community Renaissance Team (requested 49,000, allocated 27,000), Chehalis-Centralia Chamber of Commerce (requested $90,000, allocated $90,000), Chehalis Wedding Show (requested and allocated $21,435), Youth Athletic Tournaments (requested and allocated $15,000), Southwest Washington Fairgrounds (requested $18,500, allocated $10,000), ARTrails (requested $12,000, allocated $5,000), and Discover Lewis County (requested $5,000, allocated $0). 



Most notable is the decision to forgo the Lewis County Visitor’s guide in 2020 which made up $22,000 of the Chehalis Community Renaissance Team’s requested funds. 

All together, the requests totaled $336,935. The LTAC group recommended that $279,435 be allocated to the listed organizations.

The Chehalis City Council approved their recommendation Monday. The organizations must now enter into an agreement with the city for use of funds and will collect them in the form of reimbursements from the city.