Entities receive Holmes County Bed Tax Grant funding

The Holmes County commissioners awarded funds to a handful of area organizations, presenting the annual Holmes County Bed Tax Grants on Monday, May 13.

The commissioners received a record $436,396 in requests, eventually opting to dole out a total of $209,358 in grants to 23 organizations. Each of the applicants received at least a portion of the funding that was requested.

According to commissioner Joe Miller, the county received just under $200,000 in funds coming into this past year, meaning they actually presented a little more than that.

“The commissioners have been working hard on the bed tax,” commissioner Dave Hall said. “We’ve had a lot of requested bed tax amounts at $436,396. I think that’s a record by far.”

According to Hall, the board of commissioners recently decided to revamp the process for applying for bed tax grant funding, noting additional information on those changes will be sent out via a letter later in the year explaining the new process.

“There will be a whole different change in the process of awards,” Hall said. “We won’t have the larger amounts.”

The following organizations were chosen as 2024 recipients of this year’s bed tax grant funding:

—Holmes County Historical Society, $6,000 for marketing the historical society, Millersburg Glass Museum and Cultural Center.

—Holmes County Veterans Memorial, $8,000 for phase two of the Millersburg Veterans Memorial.

—Holmes County Bicentennial/Chamber of Commerce, $40,000 for the Holmes County Bicentennial celebration.

—Holmes County Association for Handicapped Citizens, $2,500 for the 46th annual Spring Benefit & Festival.

—Winesburg Historical Society, $6,000 for upkeep of public restrooms, Laurel Park, Heritage Park and Kinsey Museum.

—Holmes County Agricultural Society, $7,500 for marketing and advertising the Holmes County Fair.

—Harvest Ridge Advisory Board, $7,500 for marketing and advertising Harvest Ridge.

—Holmes County Antique Festival, $5,000 to promote the Antique Festival.

—Killbuck Early American Days, $6,000to to promote the Early American Days Festival.

—Glenmont Community Center, $6,000 to resurface the community center parking lot.

—Marriage for Life Inc., $5,000 for its conference.

—Hiland Invitational Amish Basketball Tournament, $5,000 to promote and operate its tournament.

—Walnut Creek Business Association, $20,000 for its Vintage Fair, tree lighting service, Journey to Bethlehem and website redesign.

—Scouters of Holmes County, $3,500 for the purchase of a new storage barn.

—Clark Community Center Inc., $3,000 for several community events.

—Winesburg Community Business Association, $7,000 for a new e-bike charging station.

—Berlin Main Street Merchants, $25,000 for Berlin Harvest Fest & Rib Cook-off, live nativity parade and Music on the Square events.

—Berlin Township trustees, $5,000 for cemetery renovation and streetlights.

—Holmes Center for the Arts, $6,358 for a wireless microphone for HCA.

—Historic Downtown Millersburg, $15,000 for Thunder Over Holmes County.

—Winesburg Parks & Recreation, $9,000 for park improvements, phase two.

—Classic in the Country, $8,000 for its annual girls high school basketball showcase.

—Killbuck Valley Museum, $3,000 for promotion of its museum.

Miller said the goal of the commissioners is to spread out the bed tax funding to as many organizations as possible, with an emphasis on rewarding entities that are devoted to bringing tourism into the county and creating situations that entice visitors to stay overnight.

“We like events,” Miller said. “We think that brings in overnight guests, (something the bed tax grants were designed to do).”

Hall said the intention of the bed tax grants was to provide seed money to help events grow and prosper. He said there is a limited amount of funds available for the grants. Thus it was imperative to revamp the way the county doles out the bed tax funding.

“It’s about bringing people into the county and filling up those rooms overnight,” Hall said.

“We like to see events where volunteers commit themselves to the effort,” Miller said.