The Escambia County Tourist Development Council (TDC) yesterday held a budget workshop that shone a spotlight on a growing problem: the grant application process for TDC funds has become unmanageable for the Office of Budget Management, straining capacity and threatening the quality of council decisions.
- TDC Chair David Bear: “There’s a ton of them, obviously there’s a lot of requests and they’ve been coming in over the last few days and really not giving council members enough time to go through them.”
Current Grant Application Process
Application Submission: Organizations seeking tourism development tax (TDT) funds submit applications to the Office of Budget Management. In recent years, the number and diversity of applicants have increased, with more groups applying directly rather than through established agencies like Visit Pensacola or Pensacola Sports.
Staff Review: The Budget Director and a single aide review all applications. This involves checking financial data, ensuring completeness, and confirming that tourism-related questions are answered. The office also works with applicants to correct and complete submissions, often requiring multiple rounds of revisions.
Timing Issues: Applications are due in late March or early April, but many are submitted at the last minute or are incomplete. This leaves little time for staff review and for council members to properly vet hundreds of pages of documentation before budget workshops in May.
Council Review: Council members receive the application packets—sometimes only hours before meetings—making it difficult to review and discuss them thoroughly. Incomplete or unsigned applications are common, further complicating the process.
Reimbursement and Compliance: There are ongoing challenges with reimbursement requests, as the requirements from the Clerk’s office are not always clear or consistent. This leads to delays and additional staff workload.
Key Problems Identified
Overburdened Staff: The Office of Budget Management is stretched thin, with the grant process consuming up to 50% of the Budget Director’s time in some years, despite tourism grants being a small portion of the county’s overall budget.
- County Budget Director Stephan Hall: “We did our very best at the staff level. The only other thing that I could certainly suggest to counsel…potentially other indirect administrative costs for services provided by county staff could potentially be reimbursed, but not necessarily to answer or discuss that part fully today for a dedicated person that would do these sorts of things.”
Incomplete and Late Applications: Many applications are incomplete or submitted just before the deadline, requiring extensive follow-up and delaying council review.
Lack of Standardization: The process for direct applications to the TDC is less rigorous than those run by Visit Pensacola or Pensacola Sports, leading applicants to bypass those agencies for an easier path to funding.
Unclear Reimbursement Rules: Changing or unclear requirements from the Clerk’s office result in delays and confusion for both staff and applicants.
Insufficient Time for Council Review: Council members often receive application materials too late to review them adequately, undermining transparency and the quality of funding decisions.
Suggestions for Improving the Process
Enforce Strict Deadlines and Completeness Requirements
– Only accept applications that are complete and submitted by the established deadline. Incomplete applications should be automatically rejected or deferred to the next funding cycle, as is common in other grant settings.
– Make it clear that staff will not provide extensive post-deadline support to fix incomplete submissions.
- Commissioner Ashlee Hofberger: “I’m not a huge fan of giving people hundreds of thousands of dollars that can’t fill out a form correctly. So I get that some of it’s complicated and maybe we shoot it back to ‘em once and if they fail to complete it, maybe they just don’t get to enter that time. I think that would take a lot off of your plate, but I don’t think we should have to work harder to give someone money.”
Standardize the Application Pathway
– Require all event-related grant requests to go through established agencies like Visit Pensacola or Pensacola Sports, which already have robust grant review processes and accountability measures.
– Reserve direct applications to the TDC for infrastructure projects or unique cases not covered by existing agency programs.
- Mitesh Patel: “I really think that because it’s proven there, folks should not be coming here for events to get grants for events. They should be going to one of those agencies and speak to those committees. And if you miss the deadline there, then I’m sorry, but the deadline’s given and there’s workshops and you have to attend the workshop and if you don’t, you don’t get any money.”
Expand Agency Grant Programs
– Work with Visit Pensacola and Pensacola Sports to expand their grant capacity, ensuring they can handle a larger volume and variety of requests. This would reduce the number of direct applications to the TDC and leverage existing expertise.
Improve Application Materials and Guidance
– Develop clear, user-friendly application instructions and checklists, including a quick-reference flyer on eligible uses of TDT funds and common compliance issues (e.g., no reimbursement for alcohol or self-payments).
– Require applicants to attend a grant workshop before submitting, as is done by Visit Pensacola and Pensacola Sports.
Clarify and Communicate Reimbursement Requirements
– Work with the Clerk’s office to develop and publish clear, consistent reimbursement guidelines, so applicants know exactly what documentation is required before applying.
– Provide these guidelines as part of the application packet and on the county website.
Build in Adequate Review Time
– Set the application deadline at least two weeks before the council workshop, ensuring staff and council members have time to review submissions thoroughly.
– If necessary, postpone meetings to allow for proper vetting, as was agreed in the recent workshop.
Consider Dedicated Administrative Support
– Explore the feasibility of hiring or designating a dedicated staff member to manage the TDC grant process, funded as an allowable administrative expense under TDT rules.
Conclusion
The TDC’s grant process is at a crossroads. By enforcing stricter deadlines, standardizing application pathways, leveraging agency expertise, and improving communication, the council can reduce the burden on staff, increase transparency, and ensure that taxpayer dollars are allocated effectively.
- The recent workshop demonstrated a clear consensus: the current process is unsustainable, and change is both necessary and achievable.