Overview
Hotels collect a lodging tax when people stay overnight at a hotel, motel, long-term stay facility, bed and breakfast, or other similar type of overnight lodging. Proceeds are then provided to cities and those funds can only be used by non-profit organizations and government entities for the following:
Marketing and operations of special events and festivals (also called “tourism promotion”)
Operations (but not capital expenditures) of tourism-related facilities owned or operated by non-profits
Operations and capital expenditures of tourism related facilities owned or operated by a municipality or public facility district
The committee’s role is to review the requests for funding from the lodging tax and make recommendations on funding to the Mayor and City Council. City Council may accept the recommendations as presented, modify the recommendations by removing a recipient(s) from the list, or remand the recommendations back to the committee for further deliberation. Following formal action by the City Council, the allocations are included in the City’s Budget. After the budget is adopted, organizations enter into contracts with the City of Bremerton to provide tourism-related services for the next fiscal year.