PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles City Council has taken the first step toward having the administrative costs of overseeing Lodging Tax Advisory Committee contracts covered by funding generated from the lodging tax itself.
The city’s Natural Resources and Grant Administrator Courtney Bornsworth gave a presentation Tuesday on the administrative work city staff provides for the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) contracts.
Bornsworth provided background on how LTAC works, including that the committee meets to discuss the proposals it receives every year for funding generated by the lodging tax.
“The committee then evaluates the applications using a set criteria and meet to discuss their scores,” she said. “The LTAC then makes a recommendation to city council on funding. If city council approves the committee’s recommendation, contracts are drafted and vendors receive the amount that was approved by council.”
The council also has the option to reject a recommendation made by the committee and send it back for further review.
The council voted to approve the LTAC’s recommendations for 2026 funding on Dec. 16 and also asked city staff to bring a resolution to set policy for the LTAC that includes fully funding the administrative costs of lodging tax administration.
City staff prepared a resolution that would use 12 percent of lodging tax, or $134,000, to cover administrative costs. That will remove the cost from the city’s general fund.
The council was asked to approve the resolution so it could be presented to the LTAC to be included with funding recommendations following LTAC’s March meeting.
“Prior to this year, staff had been requesting support for administering LTAC funds based on a business-as-usual model, resulting in a request that was artificially low,” Bornsworth said.
Her presentation provided a deeper dive into the actual administrative costs associated with the LTAC contracts.
“With managing, administering and providing legal and financial oversight of these funds and vendor contracts, staff strive to provide an excellent customer service experience, going above and beyond what is required of them,” she said. “Staff are always available to answer phone calls, respond to emails and hold one-on-one meetings with vendors at their discretion to ensure questions are answered and information is conveyed clearly.”
This year, staff is set to oversee 36 contracts from the already approved submissions and is preparing to send an additional 14 applications for the LTAC to review in March. If approved, city staff could be overseeing 50 contracts this year.
Last year, staff oversaw 31 contracts.
That increase in annual contracts has become a trend. In 2015, there were 16 contracts and nearly $600,000 awards. That number dropped to 14 contracts in 2020, but staff managed nearly $760,000 in awards.
If all 50 contracts are approved for 2026, that would be more than $2.1 million in awards.
“The sheer increase in funds and number of contracts now being managed clearly demonstrates the need for administrative and fiscal oversight by city staff,” Bornsworth said. “When combined with the oversight of the Visit Port Angeles contract, the contribution to the Olympic Peninsula Tourism Commission and the excellent customer service staff strive to provide to all their vendors, (that) is the rationale behind the proposed 12 percent for oversight costs.”
That compares to other grant administrative practices where 15 percent to 30 percent have become common, she said.
City council member LaTrisha Suggs motioned to approve the resolution and said the city has to stop subsidizing programs with the general fund, which is used to pay for parks and recreation, police and fire, among other services.
“I think 12 percent is a fair amount, and I fully support this so that taxpayers are not subsidizing the lodging tax programs,” she said.
Council approved the resolution. The request for funds will go back to the LTAC for review.
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Reporter Emily Hanson can be reached by email at emily.hanson@peninsuladailynews.com.
