The City of Isle of Palms is opening a second round of funding for FY25 and accepting applications from organizations wishing to receive grants from the 2% state accommodations tax fund. The fund has $15,000 available for eligible applications.
South Carolina law allows for a 2% tax levy on the rental of all transient accommodations to help provide financial support to promote tourism and fund tourism-related activities in municipalities and counties within the state. Individuals staying overnight in hotels, motels, inns, and vacation rentals pay 2% in addition to the statewide sales tax and any local sales and use tax applied to their lodging cost. State law establishes that funds from accommodations taxes must be used to attract and provide for tourists and must be spent on tourism-related expenditures.
Application Deadline: The ATAX grant application must be submitted electronically to Nicole DeNeane, City Clerk, at nicoled@iop.net no later than 5:00 p.m., Friday, September 20, 2024.
Application: ATAX Grant Application is available here.
Eligible Projects: Eligible projects include advertising and promotion, promotion of arts and cultural events for the attraction of tourists, construction, maintenance, and operations of facilities for civic and cultural events, public facilities, and visitor centers.
Application Process: Applicants must review the application approved by the local ATAX Committee, available here: iop.net. Applications received by the deadline will be reviewed by staff for compliance with state law and these guidelines to determine eligibility. The applicants passing the initial review will be asked to make a presentation to the ATAX Committee.
Applicant Presentations: The presentations are scheduled for 11:00 a.m., September 25, 2024.
The ATAX Committee will make grant award recommendations to City Council.