ALPINE — The City of Alpine will begin accepting Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) Grant applications for the 2022-2023 fiscal year on Monday, May 23 with a final deadline of Friday, July 1.
The grants can support events or other projects geared towards bringing visitors to Alpine for overnight stays. There are very explicit limitations to the legal use of the funds. The allowed uses include advertising outside of the area, promotion of the arts, historical restoration/preservation and sporting events.
All expenses under these grants must take place during the 2022-2023 fiscal year, starting October 1, 2022 and ending September 30, 2023. Complete grant guidelines and application can be found on the City website at www.cityofalpine.com/hotgrants.
At 5:30pm on Wednesday, May 25 in the Alpine City Council Chambers, City of Alpine Tourism Director Chris Ruggia will hold a workshop with Texas Hotel & Lodging Association (THLA) lead counsel Justin Bragiel about the Hotel Occupancy Tax.
The program will cover the legal uses for funds collected under the state’s Hotel Occupancy Tax in detail, as well as general information about the City of Alpine’s HOT Grants program.
“THLA are the primary authors of the HOT statute,” Ruggia said, “and they have a lot of influence over any changes to it that are brought to the state legislature. I would consider Justin to be the preeminent expert on this law, so it’s an honor to have him here in person. I hope that anyone interested in how the hotel tax works will come out and bring him their questions.”
For those unable to attend in person, the workshop will be broadcast on Zoom. The session will be recorded and made available afterwards. The Zoom details can be found on the City website at cityofalpine.com/meetinglink.
Questions about the workshop and Alpine’s Hotel Occupancy Tax grant program can be directed to Chris Ruggia at chris@visitalpinetx.com.
