The Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) recommended on April 17 that Mountlake Terrace award the remaining $20,000 of its 2025 lodging-tax budget to two applicants, the city’s recreation director told council on April 24.

Jeff Betts, recreation and parks director, said the city’s budget for 2025–26 set aside $50,000 in hotel–motel (lodging) tax funds, generated by one studio-6 hotel in the Gateway neighborhood. In an earlier, first allocation this year the committee and council awarded $30,000 (Friends of the Arts, $10,000; Mountlake Terrace Chamber of Commerce, $20,000), leaving $20,000 available for a second round.

Two applications arrived for the second round totaling $70,000 in requests: MLT Cares requested $50,000 to stage a new MLT Festival (presenters described it as a successor to Tour de Terrace) and Force Property PNW requested $20,000 for a Lowell Shields Disc Golf Tournament. LTAC recommended awarding $19,500 to MLT Cares and $500 to Force Property PNW, saying both applications met the committee’s criteria that lodging-tax-funded events generate overnight stays and positive economic impact beyond Mountlake Terrace.

LTAC criteria and reporting: Bets explained LTAC’s role under state lodging-tax law, including that awards must be for permitted uses (tourism promotion, operation of tourism facilities, marketing of events) and that applicants should show demonstrated need and evidence of out-of-town visitation. State auditors and the city’s application materials require applicants to estimate the number of visitors traveling 50 miles or more and to show how awards would increase overnight stays.

Council direction: Council discussed the recommended amounts and asked questions about scale and viability, in particular whether the $500 award to the disc-golf applicant would permit a meaningful tournament without other sponsorships. Betts said the smaller award would allow a smaller-scale event but that the applicant had other funding sources. Council will consider LTAC’s formal recommendation and either approve, amend (by returning to LTAC) or reject the recommended allocations; staff said the recommendation could be placed on the next consent agenda for council action.

Ending: Betts asked council for questions and noted that LTAC’s recommendation respects the statutory constraints on lodging-tax allocations; councilmembers generally expressed support for a second round and asked staff to place the recommendation on the next consent agenda.