The Ocracoke Occupancy Tax Board will accept grant request packages no later than Friday, March 1, for funding requests for 2019 to 2020.
The appropriations meeting for grants will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday April 11, in the Ocracoke Community Center, said Occupancy Tax Board Chair Bob Chestnut in a message sent to the community.
The Occupancy Tax Board is a citizen advisory body that decides how occupancy tax revenues are dispersed on Ocracoke and grants about $380,000 yearly from about $500,000 collected from the 3 percent tax on all island lodging.
These grants are typically for projects, but last year, after learning that there was about $400,000 in reserve funds, the Occupancy Tax board sought proposals for capital improvement projects to fund.
The Hyde County Commissioners on Jan. 7 approved $471,218 grants from the reserve to fund the following: $188,515 to the Ocracoke Youth Center to pay off the mortgage on Ocracoke Community Park; $141,000 to the Ocracoke Preservation Society for the construction of several public restrooms this year on the Island Inn property; $84,500 to the Ocracoke Foundation for dock repair in Community Square; and $57,203 to the Ocracoke Health Center for renovations and repairs to the center’s building on Back Road.
Similarly, the Ocracoke Tourism Development Authority, which was authorized last year, allocates money to advertising the island from an additional 2 percent occupancy tax enacted last year, for a total of 5 percent levied on all island lodgings.
For grants from the Occupancy Tax Board, nonprofit organizations or public entities must prepare five copies of their requests and may drop them off at Ride the Wind Surf Shop, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. daily.
Packets also can be mailed to Occupancy Tax Board Chair Bob Chestnut, P.O. Box 700, Ocracoke, NC. 27960.
Chestnut’s letter enumerated the following process for grant requests:
Requests must include current, detailed (reader friendly) and consistent information. Action on funding requests may be delayed or not acted upon if the following information is not submitted by the March 1 deadline.
All funding requests should be submitted by a qualified non-profit organization or public entity. The board members feel that project-oriented funding should take priority over funding for operational expenses, and to keep this in mind when submitting requests.
All requests should include the following:
- Single page summary of the project identifying the use of funds and amount requested.
- Completed checklist of requested information.
- Detailed estimate as to the “use of funds” with a description/itemization of how the funds will be used (specific project) and estimated line-item costs. All advertising and promotional costs should be listed as a separate line item.
- Timeline as to when funds will be needed (from July 1 to June 30; this is the occupancy tax budget year).
- Current (no older than 90 days) balance sheet of the organization that reflects the cash and investment position of the organization to include all assets and liabilities.
- Prior year’s profit and loss statement or cash flow statement (funds in and cash out) that reflects the use of any occupancy tax funds (description of use and amount).
- Budget (profit and loss or cash flow statement) for the organization for July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020, that includes funds requested from occupancy tax for the year the occupancy tax funds are requested to include an explanation (identify by line item) as to the amount of the occupancy tax funds requested. The grant request amount should be identified so as to be considered along with other budgeted items of the organization.
- Current profit & loss statement of organization.
- Such other information that the requesting organization feels would benefit the occupancy tax board relative to the request (matching funds issues etc.).
