The Port Orchard Lodging Tax Advisory Committee voted at a recorded public meeting to forward funding recommendations to the City Council that include a $10,000 allocation for local planning and marketing tied to FIFA-related activities, while leaving previously proposed allocations for other organizations unchanged.

The committee said the $10,000 would be a prorated local contribution toward planning and promotions tied to FIFA-related events that will center in Bremerton but are expected to “spill over” to Port Orchard. The request before the committee was for $15,000 from a local organizer working on FIFA-related fan-zone activities; the committee agreed on a reduced local contribution so the city can participate without reallocating previously budgeted awards.

Why it matters: LTAC (the committee that recommends how the city spends lodging-tax dollars) and downtown businesses say the World Cup-related events could bring more visitors, require added local planning and marketing, and strain limited volunteer-run organizations. Committee members emphasized preserving funding for year-round community events and operations while adding a modest FYI-related contribution now and allowing for larger allocations in future budget cycles.

Discussion and rationale
- Request and recommendation: The application presented to the committee asked for $15,000 to support local FIFA-related planning and marketing. Committee members debated the size of the contribution, options to use carryover funds rather than amend the biennial budget, and the timing of deliverables since FIFA organizers have not yet published a full “playbook” for local partners.

- Budget context: Committee members said the lodging-tax fund finished the prior biennium better than forecast: “we made $25,000 more in interest over the two-year period than the last biennium,” a staff member noted, and lodging-tax receipts also exceeded projections. The committee agreed it could use carryover funds to provide the modest FIFA allocation without immediately amending the city’s biannual budget.

- Marketing assets and ownership: Committee members raised concerns about rights to photographs and other marketing assets produced with paid lodging-tax reimbursements. LTAC member Lorraine Olsen told the group that under the city’s reimbursement-based contracting approach, “anything that’s in your application and then you seek reimbursement for, the city will own,” though she said the city attorney was still reviewing exact contract language and that the answer may be somewhere “in the middle” rather than a hard yes or no.

- Support for ongoing operations: Multiple committee members and downtown representatives urged caution about cutting operating support for year-round volunteer organizations. Several speakers said Fathoms of Fun (a local volunteer-run organization) is dependent on LTAC support and could be at risk if its funding is not increased; committee members proposed modest adjustments to preserve operational capacity while funding one-time FIFA planning.

- Data and coordination: Members discussed existing destination-marketing organizations in Kitsap County (including Visit Kitsap Peninsula and newer groups such as Love Kitsap), the challenge of fragmented metrics, and the value of more coordinated data collection (ZIP-code collection, device-proximity analysis, third-party software) to document “heads and beds” impacts tied to lodging-tax rules.

Decision, conditions and next steps
The committee voted by voice to forward its recommendations to the City Council with the following elements: (1) add $10,000 to the FIFA-related request (reduced from the $15,000 requested); (2) leave other recommended allocations unchanged; and (3) include a caveat that if the Lady Washington or other key local partners confirm they are unavailable (for example, if the ship remains in dry dock) before council approval, the $10,000 may be reallocated to bolster at-risk, year-round organizations. The committee directed staff to present the package to the City Council at its May 13 meeting and to prepare draft contracts and any caveated language about asset/photography rights for legal review.

Ending
The committee characterized the decision as a compromise to ensure Port Orchard participates in regional FIFA planning while preserving funds for local, year-round events and organizations. Committee members asked staff to seek clarifications from FIFA organizers and local partners about deliverables, sponsorships and asset licensing before council consideration.