County commission prepares for next round of development grants

By Phil Major
publisher@wood.cm
Posted 6/1/23

The Wood County Economic Development Commission will soon be releasing the applications for the annual business development grants funded by the county’s hotel-motel tax receipts.

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County commission prepares for next round of development grants

Posted

The Wood County Economic Development Commission will soon be releasing the applications for the annual business development grants funded by the county’s hotel-motel tax receipts.

Hotel occupancy grant requests must adhere to the state requirements that any project assist in bringing more tourism into the county, commonly referred to as “heads in beds.”

Commission members viewed the latest hotel occupancy tax reports.

Though the numbers are down from last year, Executive Director Christine Thomas noted that they are still above the pre-COVID figures, and likely dipped after other states opened up following the pandemic restrictions.

Also, the county did not get to host the big Bassmasters tournament on Lake Fork, due to questions about the impact of the lake level, which was lowered to allow repairs to the dam. It is scheduled to return in 2024.

Hotel-motel tax receipts for fiscal years 2018, 2019 and 2020 were steady in the $124,000 range, then jumped to $177,000 in 2021 and $183,000 last year.

For the first seven months of this year receipts total $91,677.

The annual funds from the unclaimed capital credits through electric cooperatives are also expected soon. Those are used to fund economic development grants.

The commission is also reviewing a short list of candidates to recommend to the county judge to replace board members Lee Smith and Steven Steele.