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City of Columbia - Budget Office
Budget, Program Management & Grants
Budget, Program Management & Grants Office
Hospitality Tax Program FY 24/25

CLOSED Deadline 4/19/2024

View Open Programs | Hide Hospitality Tax Funding Hide Organization/Project/Event Eligibility Requirements Hide Project Expense Eligibility Criteria Hide Toolbox Contact Admin

Hospitality Tax Funding [hide this]

A 2% Hospitality Tax is collected on all prepared food and beverages sold in the City of Columbia. From revenues collected, the City of Columbia offers funding through the Hospitality Tax Grant program.

These funds may be used for organizations/events/programs that promote the attraction of tourism and dining within the city limits.
Please pay close attention to the grant guidelines, as they explain organization/program/event eligibility as well as the purpose/procedures associated with Hospitality Tax funding. A copy of the H-Tax guidelines are located in the "Toolbox" section of ZoomGrants.
All applications must be submitted by the published funding deadline to be considered and approved by Columbia City Council. Late and incomplete applications will not be considered.

Applications and eligible expenditures will be examined on an individual basis. Be advised that all materials sumbitted for H-Tax funding are subject to disclosure based on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA.) By providing electronic initials and submitting the City of Columbia H-Tax application, your orgnaization is agreeing to the Statement of Assurances listed in the application disclaimer.

Organization/Project/Event Eligibility Requirements [hide this]

In order to receive H-tax funding, organizations/projects/events must meet the following eligibility requirements:

•Organization or fiscal agent must provide proof of their non-profit status with documentation from the South Carolina Secretary of States Office or be exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(C) of the Internal Revenue Code whose primary goal is to attract additional visitors through tourism promotion (letter of exemption from the IRS must be provided).

•Organization/Project/Event must be in the City of Columbia limits.

•Organization/Project/Event must promote the attraction of tourist and promote dining in the City of Columbia. Columbia City Council has determined a tourist to be anyone traveling from outside of the city limits.

•All projects/events must be completed during the fiscal year in which they are funded. Fiscal year begins July 1, and ends on June 30.

•Grant funds requested must be for eligible expenditures only (as listed in the eligible expenditures section of the H-Tax Guidelines)

•A completed application must be submitted on time for consideration.

Project Expense Eligibility Criteria [hide this]

Expenses must be directly in support of one of the 6 purposes of H-tax funding under S.C. Code 6-1-730, and in compliance with the City of Columbia H-tax guidelines.

Funds must be used for tourism related expenses as listed in the guidelines. Generally eligible expenses are:

Advertising/Marketing/Promotions (printing and design expenses for advertising materials, mailings for advertising, marketing firm in lieu of in-house marketing staff)
Security (security used for events is allowable)
Entertainment (Artist performances fees only, speaker fees only)

Toolbox [hide this]

Description	File Name	Date Uploaded	File Type
HTAX Advisory Committee Award Criteria	HTaxCommitteeAwardCriteria.pdf	2/23/2024 12:04:31 PM	PDF
Business License Exempt Information	BusinessLicenseexemptlicense2024.pdf	2/23/2024 12:06:00 PM	PDF
City Business License Application Instructions	Business-License-Application-v52022-INSTRUCTIONS.pdf	2/23/2024 12:08:27 PM	PDF
City Business License Application - English	Business-License-Application-v3feb-2023.pdf	2/23/2024 12:08:57 PM	PDF
City Business License Application - Spanish	Business-License-Application-SpanishvNov-2022-SP.pdf	2/23/2024 12:09:32 PM	PDF
Statement of Assurance	StatementofAssurances.pdf	2/23/2024 12:11:56 PM	PDF
Reimbursement Request Summary Template	ReimbursementRequestSummaryFormandGuidelines24.xlsx	2/23/2024 12:12:27 PM	XLSX
W-9 Form	W9formBlank.pdf	3/1/2024 4:43:05 AM	PDF
Hospitality Tax Grant Guidelines	HTaxGuidelinesFY24-25.pdf	3/1/2024 4:43:45 AM	PDF
Grant Workshop Slides	FY2425GrantWorkshop.pdf	3/1/2024 4:58:26 AM	PDF
Special Event Premit Fees	SpecialEventPermitProcessingFees.pdf	3/1/2024 5:01:17 AM	PDF

$ 0.00 requested

Application Status: Not Submitted

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Application Completion [hide this]
By entering your initials here you certify this submission truthfully and accurately represents your application and is hereby submitted for review. Submission of this application does not, in any way, guarantee that your application will yield a favorable result. Submission of this application also indicates your agreement to the terms of using ZoomGrants™. STATEMENT OF ASSURANCES/CERTIFICATION Upon application acceptance and conditional approval of funding, the applicant agrees to retain all financial records, accounting records, supporting documentation and all other records associated with this funding for a period of three years. All expenditures must be appropriately documented. All financial records, accounting records, supporting documentation and all other records associated with this funding shall be available for inspection by the City of Columbia upon request. The applicant hereby certifies that all the information submitted as part of this application is true and correct. The applicant also certifies that applicant has read and will follow the Economic Stabilization Non-Profit grant guidelines, the award letter and attachments. The applicant agrees to keep to the information contained in this application or any information submitted in conjunction with this application to the City of Columbia current. The applicant agrees to immediately advise the City of Columbia of any changes in the information contained in this application or any information submitted in conjunction with this application in writing. Failure to keep such information current may result in a delay in processing reimbursement requests or the withholding of reimbursement payments. Payments will not be processed until this Statement of Assurance/Certification is fully executed and on file with the City of Columbia.	Some fields are still empty... Initials
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Summary Pre-Application & Eligibility Determination Application Questions Budget Tables Documents Activity Log

Summary

(answers are saved automatically when you move to another field)

Instructions Show/Hide


Project/Event Title
Amount Requested Eligible Hospitality Expenditures only	$
City H-Tax Received Previous Year Provide the amount funded by COC Hospitality Tax funds for the previous year for the same or similar project	$

Applicant Information
First Name
Last Name
Telephone
Email

Organization Information

(changes to this data will be reflected on all other applications for this organization)

Create an Organization

Your Pre-Application & Eligibility Determination must be submitted AND approved before continuing.
Budget	(answers are saved automatically when you move to another field)
Instructions Show/Hide
Project/Event Income
The City of Columbia encourages self-sufficiency for each organization/program/event funded through the use of additional or alternative funding sources. List ALL sources of funds for the proposed project/event, including funds requested in this application. USE BLANK ROWS AS NEEDED. List all project/event income sources. Include the amount requested in this application on row 1 - COC H-Tax Request. Use blank rows to list other funding sources. For each row/source: list the source amount in Column A, and the portion of the amount that is requested/received in columns B/C. The source amount in row one must match the amount requested in your application for eligible H-Tax Expenditures meeting criteria under SC Code 6-1-730 and the COC H-Tax Guidelines.
Item Description	(A) Source Amount	(B) Requested	(C) Received
	$	$	$
	$	$	$
	$	$	$
	$	$	$
	$	$	$
	$	$	$
	$	$	$
	$	$	$
	$	$	$
	$	$	$
	Total $ 0.00	Total $ 0.00	Total $ 0.00

TOURISM RELATED PROJECT/EVENT ELIGIBLE EXPENSES:
DO NOT EDIT ITEM DESCRIPTIONS 1-3, they are the expense categories generally eligible for COC H-Tax funding. Details of specific expenses will be added in the budget narrative. If additional categories ARE needed, use blank spaces 4 & 5. List expenses related to this application request amount in Column A - COC H-TAX REQUEST, and by category in rows 1-5. Project/Event expenses in Column A must be for eligible H-Tax Expenditures only, and meet criteria under SC Code 6-1-730 and the City of Columbia H-Tax Guidelines. THE TOTAL OF COLUMN A MUST MATCH THE AMOUNT OF FUNDING REQUESTED IN THIS APPLICATION. List the remaining expenses for the Project/Event budget in row 6, using ONLY columns B through D. The total column/E should match the total cost of your project/event and match your attached budget document requested in the Pre-Application Tab.
Item Description	(A) CITY H-TAX REQUEST	(B) Other Funds	(C) In-Kind Donations	(D) In-Kind Services	(E) Total
	$	$	$	$	$
	$	$	$	$	$
	$	$	$	$	$
	$	$	$	$	$
	$	$	$	$	$
	$	$	$	$	$
	$	$	$	$	$
	$	$	$	$	$
	$	$	$	$	$
	$	$	$	$	$
	$	$	$	$	$
	$	$	$	$	$
	$	$	$	$	$
	$	$	$	$	$
	$	$	$	$	$
	$	$	$	$	$
	$	$	$	$	$
	$	$	$	$	$
	$	$	$	$	$
	$	$	$	$	$
	Total $ 0.00	Total $ 0.00	Total $ 0.00	Total $ 0.00	Total $ 0.00
Budget Narrative (Discuss the items and amounts you entered above.)
Give a DESCRIPTIVE explanation of requested eligible expenditures listed in the categories above (rows 1 through 5 under the section labeled "TOURISM RELATED PROJECT/EVENT ELIGIBLE EXPENSES".)
Maximum characters: 65000. You have characters left.

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