The Finance and Economic Development Committee has established dates for the upcoming FY 2017 Tourism Fund Application process. An application request form is below. Applications can be emailed or mailed ( or 116 East Market St., Attention Jamie Myers, Troy, IL  62294).

Consistent with prior years, the Economic Development Committee intends to award conservatively with the goal of maintaining a strong balance in the tourism fund for future needs.

Key Dates:
*    January 17, 2017:     Application Period Begins
*    February 17, 2017:   Application period ends-due in to City Clerk by 4:30 p.m.
*    February 27, 2017:   Economic Development Committee will meet with the purpose of make a
                                           committee recommendation for the City Council*
*    March 16, 2017:       Economic Development Committee will present recommendation to the City  
                                           Council for approval/rejection.

*Each applicant is encouraged to attend the Febuary 17, 2017 meeting at 7:00 p.m. should the Committee have questions about the application.

Attached:
*    Tourism Fund Distribution Guidelines (as approved January 15, 2015)
*    Application Request Form

Dan Jackson
Finance and Economic Development Committee Chair

TOURISM FUND DISTRIBUTION GUIDELINES

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Background:
*    Section 5 of the Illinois Municipal Code (65 ILCS 5/8-3-14) authorizes the City of Troy to
      award monies to promote “tourism and conventions within that municipality or otherwise
      to attract nonresident overnight visitors to the municipality”.
*    The revenue source of the monies referenced above is generated solely from local
       hotel/motel tax which is collected by the State and then distributed to the City of Troy
       (referenced by the City as Tourism Fund).

Guiding Principles:
*    The Economic Development Committee (the Committee) will request applications for event
       funding from the community on a yearly basis.  Beginning in 2013 an application template
       will be created for the applicant’s convenience when applying.
*    The Committee intends not to exceed awarding monies above and beyond those monies
      already received to date.  This ensures that we are not dependent upon future payments
      from the State for current year promised distributions.
*    The Committee may choose to distribute only a portion of the monies requested for a specific
       event as required.
*    The Committee will encourage revenue generating events (ex: craft fair, homecoming)
       to contribute a portion of the event cost themselves so the event is not solely funded by the
       City.
*    The Committee will consider funding non-revenue generating events (ex: Santa’s village, 4^th   
      of July fireworks, City wide garage sale) at 100% City funded.
*    The Committee will accept applications for one-to-many events for any given applicant.
*    The Committee intends to use discretion when awarding monies and requests that the
      applicant provide responses to the Applicant Evaluation Criteria (see below) which will be
      used as a  main source for evaluation.

Applicant Evaluation Criteria:
*    Event description & date.
*    Describe other sources of funding for the event if exist.
*    Event projected attendance.  If a repeating event, please list the attendance counts from
       prior years (estimates accepted.
*    Event location.
*    Itemized description of how monies will be used.

Known Exclusions (but not limited to):
*    Costs not directly related to the event for which monies are being requested (ex: association
       or organizational dues, yearly insurance premiums, yearly or monthly rent).
*    Event solely promoting for-profit entities.
*    Salaries.