by Trish Rudder
It was announced in the February 6 Bath Town Council meeting that Hotel/Motel applications for Fiscal Year 2024-25 are available and must be submitted by February 29.
Bath Clerk Sharron Corrick said the application forms can be picked up at the town office at 271 Wilkes Street or can be downloaded online at the Townofbath.org website under Government/Forms.
The hotel/motel occupancy tax helps fund organizations that promote tourism, beautification, historical or cultural efforts in the town.
Each year the town finance committee reviews the funding applications to determine how the organization/project will benefit tourism in the Town of Bath.
As dictated by law, 50% of the lodging tax collected goes to the local tourism bureau, Travel Berkeley Springs, for tourism promotion. The other half is distributed to the local groups that are approved by the finance committee.
On the Town of Bath website under Request for Hotel Motel Funds, the Hotel Occupancy Tax code has a section in Chapter 7, Article 18 that explains what expenditures are permissible.
Under Program Description on the application, it asks the applicant to “State what the project is about, how it benefits tourism and which permissible expenditure from Chapter 7, Article 18 you feel it qualifies under.”
The request is for year 2024-25, which begins July 1, 2024 and ends June 30, 2025.
Laura Smith of Travel Berkeley Springs said the town collected $72,753 in hotel/motel tax from July 1 to December 31, 2023, which is the first half of the fiscal year that ends June 30, 2024. TBS received $36,376. The town distributed the other half to hotel/motel recipients.
In the past, 16 organizations received hotel/motel funding, Corrick had said.
For more information, contact Town Hall at 304-258-1102.
