Holmes Commissioners pass out $56,500 in bed tax grants

While the Holmes County commissioners didn’t have the same amount of funding to dole out, a series of area entities will be the 2020 recipients of the annual Holmes County bed tax grants.

In a meeting that took place Monday morning, Aug. 31 at the Old Jail in Millersburg, the Holmes County commissioners agreed to dish out funds to 10 county organizations in the amount of $56,500.

“We didn’t give out as much as normal because the bed taxes were down,” commissioner Joe Miller said. “Last year we gave out more than $100,000. So many people aren’t doing anything. The only one we were assured was moving ahead was Classic in the Country.”

The reason for the decrease was fairly simple: COVID-19 issues canceled so many events from March until the current time that there were not as many functions and sales dollars in the county.

“We had a lot of activities and events canceled,” commissioner Rob Ault said. “One thing is that we didn’t spend a lot of money, so we had some money reserved for years like this.”

The commissioners said they firmly believe the sales tax in Holmes County will rebound nicely, with Ault noting it already has to a large extent, so the hope is that those bed tax numbers will be right back up around the six-figure mark again next year.

The commissioners awarded $10,000 to the Berlin Main Street Merchants for a series of events including the Holmes County Christmas Parade, Berlin Harvest Fest and Rib Cook-off, Music on the Square, and annual fireworks.

Classic in the Country, a giant undertaking over Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend that brings in a large crowd of people to watch girls high school basketball during a down time in tourism, was awarded $10,000.

The Holmes County Agricultural Society received $7,500 for marketing and advertising purposes while Harvest Ridge’s board received $6,000, also for advertising and promotions.

Also receiving $6,000 was Winesburg Parks & Recreation, which is currently in the midst of creating parking improvements, adding an additional ball field and a new walking trail at Winesburg Park.

The Holmes County Historical Society received $6,000 for promotional purposes as well as for the Victorian House.

The commissioners allotted $5,000 to Walnut Creek Business Association for its Journey to Bethlehem and vintage fair endeavor while $3,000 was awarded to the Millersburg Lions Club, which serves all of Holmes County. Much of that will go toward creating the Historic Downtown Millersburg Christmas display lighting project it does each year.

Winesburg Historical Society received $2,000 for upkeep of public restrooms and general upkeep at Laurel Park, Heritage Park and Kinsley Museum, and $1,000 was awarded to Run, Bike, Hike: A Wellness Expo for its expo production.