Lebanon County Commissioners on Thursday, Aug. 15, voted unanimously to approve three hotel tax grant requests totaling $15,000, the first amounts awarded since they recently revised their program guidelines.
Commissioners had voted on July 18 to table three hotel tax funding grant requests from organizations seeking $17,500 because the amounts exceeded the available balance in county coffers at the time.
It was announced at that meeting that the fund stood at $8,300, nearly $9,500 below the requested amounts. The program’s purpose is to help local organizations market tourist-based events.
At their Aug. 1 meeting, the commissioners approved by a 2-1 vote to alter the Hotel Tax Grant Program guidelines to ensure recipients requesting funds are using those dollars to promote events that attract tourists to stay overnight in Lebanon County. In other words, put “heads in beds.”
The guideline previously stated: “Grant monies shall be used for promotion of events that attract tourists to eat and sleep in Lebanon County. Including evidence or event data that demonstrates this is strongly encouraged.”
The draft version of that paragraph that was adopted now reads: “Grant monies shall be used for promotion of events that attract tourists to spend hotel stays or significant spending in Lebanon County. Application must include evidence, event data, or a narrative that demonstrates this.”
Commissioner Jo Ellen Litz voted against the guideline revisions with commissioners Bob Phillips and Mike Kuhn agreeing to change them.
At last Thursday’s meeting, the three previously tabled requests were back for consideration in addition to two others that had been submitted since mid-July.
All told, the five funding requests totaled $19,600. However, county treasurer Sallie Neuin told commissioners on Thursday that the fund’s balance currently was about $17,000 after receiving around $9,500 from hotel receipts.
Each month, the county’s treasurer’s office receives funding from “any residence that earns income from transient individuals or people seeking temporary room occupancy.” From those amounts, the county deducts 4 percent of the funds collected on a monthly basis as an administrative fee.
It then distributes the balance to Visit Lebanon Valley (VLV), which is the county’s tourism agency. VLV then distributes 35 percent of the remaining 96 percent of funds to the Lebanon Valley Exposition Corp. (LVEC) and 10 percent to Lebanon County, and keeps the remaining balance.
VLV is required via County Ordinance 54 to use the funds for the purposes of “tourism, promotion and tourism development,” while LVEC is charged to spend their funding for “tourism, convention promotion and tourism development.” The ordinance also states the county’s portion is designated for “maintaining special county tourism efforts.”
The five requests, beginning first with the three that were tabled at the mid-July meeting, their program budgets and grant request amounts are:
- Miss Morgan’s Milkweed Antiques & Artisan Show, $40,000, $5,000
- Motorama Productions Inc., (Dragfest), $100,000, $7,500
- Penn State Extension (Crop Conference), $1,250 [sic], $5,000
- Lancaster Kennel Club (Agility Trials), $18,000, $5,400
- Gretna Productions (Gretna Theatre 2024 season), $44,920, $5,000
County administrator Jamie Wolgemuth reminded commissioners that they had amended the guidelines at their last meeting. Given the requested amounts again exceeded the available balance, Phillips asked his colleagues how they wanted to handle the requests.
“What’s your pleasure?” he asked. “Do we want to try and give something to all five of these or do we want to scrutinize the last two more carefully because of the adoption of the guidelines? Whatever your pleasure is, I’d be happy to entertain it if we can get a motion.”
Litz asked if the events that are not immediate could be held until more funds come into the county. That was the decision made after Wolgemuth spelled out how the five events would occur chronologically.
Litz made a motion, seconded by Kuhn and unanimously approved, to provide $5,000 each to the following organizations based on event chronology: Lancaster Kennel Club, Miss Morgan’s, and Gretna Productions.
As part of that motion, Litz said the other two would be tabled until more funding became available. After the vote, Litz said she had talked with an extension official who told her the total program cost was a typographical error. She requested an amended copy, which was not received before this meeting, so that was a reason she wanted to table that request at this time.
Awarding these three requests changes the fund balance from $17,800 to $2,800.
Neuin reiterated to commissioners that hotels have until the 20th day of each month to submit funds collected during the previous month. She sends those monies, minus an administrative fee, to VLV, who cuts a check to the county and to LVEC.
LebTown previously reported that Wolgemuth had informed commissioners at various public meetings over the past several years that the county’s hotel tax grant program funding was continuing to head downward.
In response to that information, commissioners decided to lower the amount an applicant would potentially receive from a maximum of $10,000 to $7,500 and then eventually lessened it to $5,000.
Grants from the fund require a cash or in-kind local match of at least 25 percent, according to guidelines established by the county that reflect the state law that created the program.
However, the maximum amount is not a requirement since the guidelines are recommendations, as noted previously by Wolgemuth, who said commissioners have the discretion to act as they wish when making awards.
Wolgemuth had noted on Aug. 1 that some applicants do a great job of proving that they had overnight stays while others are “questionable as to whether they are generating overnight stays.”
“So you aren’t replenishing the fund by giving grants to those events, but again, that’s entirely up to you, the guidelines are yours,” he said. “You can waive the guidelines, which you have done from time to time and that’s perfectly allowable.”
Wolgemuth added that the maximum grant distribution amount is $5,000, and commissioners have the right to make changes to that figure as they wish.
There was no discussion at Thursday’s meeting regarding whether any of the grant applicants were actually “putting heads in beds.”
Following the vote, VLV president Jen Kuzo requested from county officials a list of organizations that receive funding since the tourism agency provides marketing grants to applicants. She said she wanted the list to avoid duplication with the awards the county grants to its applicants.
In other county business, commissioners agreed to pay $65,000 to settle a Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission complaint filed by former county employee Macy Rivera on April 23, 2023, against Lebanon County, the county treasurer’s office, and county treasurer Sallie Neuin.
The settlement document, which was obtained by LebTown through a Right-to-Know request since that was a requirement of the settlement terms, states Rivera is to receive $3,900 in lost wages and $35,100 for compensatory and other damages.
Another $26,000 is to be paid to Rivera’s attorney Sam Wilson of Freundlich & Littman LLC of Philadelphia.
Other settlement terms include:
- Lebanon County will provide a neutral employment reference on behalf of Rivera if requests are made for her employment history.
- Rivera must direct potential employers to the county’s Human Resources department.
- Current employees of Lebanon County named in the complaint are to attend a training session conducted by a PHRC representative on workplace discrimination.
- Lebanon County makes no admission of liability in the matter.
- Rivera agrees that the terms of the settlement agreement are confidential and that she will not seek re-employment with Lebanon County.
Wolgemuth referred all questions about the Rivera case to the law firm that was hired by the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania through its insurance program to represent Lebanon County in this legal matter.
LebTown made additional requests with Lebanon County’s Right-to-Know officer and county solicitor Matt Bugli for additional documents pertaining to this matter but had not received them as of publication.
Prior to the commissioners voting unanimously to approve the payments, Bugli noted that the county was issuing the $3,900 payment for lost wages and that commissioners were authorizing its insurance provider, Pennsylvania County Risk Pool, to remit the remaining balance of the settlement funding totaling $61,100.
Commissioners made no other comments about the settlement agreement. LebTown asked Phillips, and he answered yes, if an executive session held on Aug. 13 and whose minutes were approved earlier in the meeting was to discuss the Rivera complaint.
The county treasurer is an elected position.
Commissioners also unanimously voted to:
- Accept a 2024-25 Election Integrity Grant from the state for $478,731.88. There are no changes to the grant guidelines and there are still nine funding categories for which the funds can be spent. Wolgemuth said the county elections office does not have any large purchases on its radar, but the funding will be used to “cover a broad spectrum of election-related expenses and to continue to invest in redundant systems to enhance election security.” The county had an Aug. 15 deadline to accept the state grant, a tight schedule necessitated by the post-June 30 state budget approval.
- Approve a revenue obligation or tax-exempt issue for $625,000 through the Next Generation Farm Loan Program for a Bell & Evans broiler operation in Jackson Township.
- Sign an agreement with Lebanon County Correctional Facility’s medical service provider PrimeCare of Harrisburg for compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and the Health Insurance Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act.
- Receive a second quarter pension fund update for county employees from Stifel and a representative from Franklin Templeton/Legg Mason. Stifel is an investment services agency based in Lebanon.
- Reappoint Audrey Fortna, director of Adult Probation, to the Lebanon County Commission on Drug and Alcohol Abuse Advisory Council through Feb. 19, 2027.
- Grant full real estate tax exemptions for three fully disabled veterans or their families.
- Approve the minutes of their Aug. 1 meeting, workshops on July 31 and Aug. 7, and an executive session on Aug. 13, the treasurer’s report and various personnel transactions. It was noted that the Aug. 13 executive session involved “litigation.”
The Lebanon County Commissioners regularly scheduled public meetings begin at 9:30 a.m. on the first and third Thursday of each month in Room 207 of the county municipal building.
Questions about this story? Suggestions for a future LebTown article? Reach our newsroom using this contact form and we’ll do our best to get back to you.
Free news isn’t cheap. If you value the journalism LebTown provides to the community, then help us make it sustainable by becoming a champion of local news. You can unlock additional coverage for the community by supporting our work with a one-time contribution, or joining as a monthly or annual member. You can cancel anytime.
More Top Stories
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
