Recent News from the Weather Center

Three Local Attractions Nab Hotel Tax Grants

Tuesday, March 6, 2007

Written by Staff Reports
BROOKVILLE - The Punxsutawney Weather Discovery Center is among three tourism venues that recently received grants from the Jefferson County Hotel Tax Committee to help with the long-term goal of increasing overnight visitation.
The Big Butt Festival and the Allegheny Mountain Antiques Market also received funds under the Tourism Development Grant for their ventures.
Last year was the first time the Tourism Development Grant program was made available through the Hotel Tax Committee. It was organized to encourage the development of tourism assets in the county by providing funds on a matching basis to businesses and organizations that could demonstrate that their projects would increase overnight visitation.
Eligible uses for the money included construction, entertainment or event bookings, design and engineering work, and advertising beyond a 100-mile radius of Jefferson County.
The Hotel Tax Committee received five applications for the funding, and a total of $25,000 was awarded to fund $50,000-worth of tourism development.
In 2004, as allowed by state law, Jefferson County enacted the 3-percent hotel tax on room nights to be used for the promotion of tourism activities in the county.
The county collects the tax with one-half of the monies going to Northwest Pennsylvania's Great Outdoors Visitors Bureau for regional promotion and the other half "slated for the promotion and projects within Jefferson County."
A nine-person committee appointed by the county commissioners oversees the county's portion of the tax.