Summary

Lodging Tax Advisory Committee Special Meeting — 2026 grant review and event fee discussion

VancouverOct 17, 20252 min read

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On October 17, 2025 the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee convened in the Aspen Room to review a new event-related fee structure, confirm conflict-of-interest procedures for 2026 grant applications, select applicants for optional presentations, and extend upcoming meeting times. The committee approved the July 9, 2025 minutes and excused one absence. The meeting adjourned at 1:47 p.m.

Committees mentioned

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Lodging Tax Advisory Committee

Topics discussed

Budget & TaxCommerce

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Key decisions

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Absence of Jennifer Kenney excused (motion by Bowers, seconded by Rise; carried unanimously).
July 9, 2025 minutes approved (motion by Hart, seconded by Lentz; Yes: 7, No: 0, Abstaining: 1).
Reviewed new event-related fee structure; staff noted permit fees (including police, parking, and fire costs) were incorporated into the grant scoring spreadsheet for committee reference.
Confirmed conflict-of-interest protocol: committee members with disclosed conflicts did not score affected applications and remained silent during deliberations.
Offered optional presentations to the following 2026 grant applicants: WHY Community - Columbia River and Girlfriends Triathalon; WHY Community - Appletree Marathon; ALS Northwest - Southwest Washington Walk; theARTScentered – Arts & Cultural Programming; Vancouver Ballet Folklorico – Day of the Dead Luminarias; ABCL D-20 – The Oregon Trail Regional Bridge Tournament; Asset Fusion Events – Asset Fusion Forum; Association of WA Business – 2026 AWB Spring Summit (Ryan Hart abstains due to conflict of interest); Columbia Dance – Fort Vancouver Nutcracker; Hough Foundation – The Craig Stein Oktoberfest; Ke Kukui Foundation – 24 th Annual 4 Days of Aloha; Pacific NW Golf Association – 40 th Pacific NW Mid-Amateur Championship; Queer Community Network – Pride Block Party; Vancouver Arena – Go Fest Celebration; Vancouver Bee Project – Pollinator Festival; Vancouver Lake Rowing Club – Vancouver Lake Spring Sprints; Vancouver Symphony Orchestra – Vancouver USA Arts & Music Festival; Visit Vancouver – 2026 Sales & Marketing (Terry Goldman, Carla Rise, Steve Bowers and Ryan Hart abstain due to conflicts of interest); The Historic Trust – Boosting Heritage Tourism-Marketing Historic Tours (Temple Lentz abstains due to conflict of interest); Vancouver’s Downtown Association – Downtown Ambassador Program.
Extended the October 28 and November 7 meetings by 30 minutes to accommodate additional presentation slots.
Meeting adjourned at 1:47 p.m.

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