April 15, 2024
Newberry City Council approved the recommendations of the Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee during their meeting on Tuesday. Motion to approve the recommendations was made by Councilperson Lemont Glasgow and seconded by Councilperson Jackie Holmes.
Each year, the City of Newberry advertises through various platforms that their application process is open and that they will be accepting applications for funding from non-profit community organizations engaged in tourism related activities benefitting the City of Newberry.
Each applicant must prove that they meet the requirements of eligibility and come before the Accommodations Tax Committee to present their requests.
The Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee met March 20 to consider seven eligible applications submitted for possible funding in 2024. The total sum of the projects submitted for funding was $144,870.27. The total funds available for distribution were calculated at $91,007.26, which is up $86,711.80 from last year, Mayor Foster Senn said.
Money to fund the requests is generated from the city’s share of the 2% lodging tax levied by the state of South Carolina.
After a presentation and discussion of each project, the committee recommended 10 non-profit funding amounts to council for approval:
- Newberry County Museum: $3,000.00
- Newberry County Historical Society: $10,000.00
- Newberry Downtown Development Association: $5,000.00
- Newberry Community Players: $8,007.26
- City of Newberry Parks, Recreation and Tourism: $30,000.00
- Newberry Opera House Foundation: $30,000.00
- RitzFest: $5,000.00
Now that funding has been approved by council, Assistant City Manager Jeff Wicker said each will be contacted and money will be dispersed. Projects that were presented must be completed within one year.
