Washington County Commissioners today (Tuesday) approved the fall 2023 allocation of hotel occupancy tax (HOT) grant funding to local tourism entities.

Commissioners awarded six organizations a total of $21,400 to use to promote tourism by holding seasonal events or otherwise conducting operations. Collectively, the six groups requested $51,200.

The largest individual funding amount will be given to Unity Theatre for $7,000 for its season of productions. The Chappell Hill Historical Society will receive $4,000 for the Scarecrow Festival. The Texas Arts and Music Festival will be allotted $3,500 for its fall event in downtown Brenham. The Chappell Hill Chamber of Commerce is slated to get $3,250 for two events, including $2,000 for the Independence Day parade and $1,250 for the Airing of the Quilts. Washington-on-the-Brazos will obtain $2,200 for its Candlelight Christmas. Finally, $1,450 will go to the Brenham Heritage Museum for signage.

The funding is presented twice a year, once for the spring and again for the fall, usually around $25,000 for each. In December, commissioners agreed to disburse $27,100 to four organizations seeking HOT funding for the spring 2023 cycle.

Commissioner Kirk Hanath said the remaining $3,600 left over from the fall 2023 cycle will go toward the spring of 2024, as recommended by the HOT board.

In other business, commissioners:

• Approved an order to abandon/vacate a 1.37-mile portion of Brazos River Lane and convey the property to the adjoining land owner, Chappell Hill Sausage Company. The section of road, which is gated off on land owned by the company, will no longer be maintained by the county.
• Took no action to award a contract for aviation fuel supply. EMS Director Kevin Deramus explained that no bids were received by last week’s deadline, but he knew of at least one bid submitted that was never received by the county. The bid will be re-submitted, and the county will go back through the posting process to open bids again.

The post WASHINGTON CO. COMMISSIONERS AWARD FALL 2023 HOT FUNDS first appeared on KWHI.com.