GUIDELINES FOR BARNWELL COUNTY A-TAX GRANT
Due Date: May 30, 2025
Barnwell County A-Tax Grants are funded through Accommodations Tax revenues collected in Barnwell County. These funds may be used for tourism related events and programs in Barnwell County. Please pay close attention to grant guidelines as they explain organization and program eligibility as well as funding priorities.
The proceeds from this tax are to be used for the dedicated purpose of promoting tourism in Barnwell County. The program is a competitive grants program that provides A-Tax funds to eligible organizations.
1. Maximize the Amount of County Funds
a) A-Tax funds will be distributed after your program or event. The Grant is a reimbursement.
b) Applicants are not required to provide a cash match for their project.
c) Eligible expenditures are restricted to tourism related expenditures. These expenditures must be used in manner to attract tourists to your event, program, or tourist attraction.
2. Strengthen Measures to ensure that Organizations are Held Responsible for Spending County A-Tax Funds- Statement of assurances is included within these guidelines.
ALLOCATION REQUIREMENTS
Organizations that are physically located in the areas where the county collects Accommodations Tax revenues provided the organization also sponsors projects or events within those areas.
Organizations that are not physically located in the areas where the county collects Accommodations Tax Revenues; however, the organization sponsors projects or events within those areas.
GRANT PROCESS
To be considered for funding, an application must be received by the published funding deadline (May 30, 2025). Once all applications for A-Tax funds are received by Barnwell County and eligibility is verified, they will be forwarded to the Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee for review.
Eligible applicants will be required to attend a meeting of the Committee on June 2, 2025 in order to answer possible questions. The Committee will review and score each application based on the evaluation measures described below. Applications will be ranked based on the scores and the Committee will determine funding recommendations. The Committee will submit its funding recommendations to County Council. County Council makes all final funding decisions; however, the Council relies heavily on the recommendations of the Committee. Funding of all projects is entirely dependent upon A-Tax funds being received by Barnwell County.
COUNTY MARKETING GRANT TIMELINE
Request for Applications: April 1, 2025 - May 30, 2025
Application Due Date: May 30, 2025, 5:00 PM
A-Tax Committee Meeting (applicant present): June 2, 2025 (Time TBD)
Grant Award Notifications: June 16, 2025
Grant Period: July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026
Final Reports: May 19, 2026 and/or July 21, 2026 (see below)
Note: (Project/Events taking place after May 19, 2026 must have final report to Barnwell County by July 21, 2026.)
ORGANIZATION ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
Applicant organizations must have been in existence for at least one (1) year prior to requesting funds.
Applicant organizations must be registered with the South Carolina Secretary of State and possess a business license from a municipality within Barnwell County. No business license is required if the applicant organization is located and does business in unincorporated Barnwell County.
Barnwell County will not award A-Tax funds to individuals, fraternal organizations, religious organizations, or organizations that support and/or endorse political campaigns.
CRITERIA FOR PROJECT ELIGIBILITY
As required by the Accommodations Tax Ordinance, projects to be funded by Accommodations Tax funds must result in the attraction of tourists to Barnwell County.
Projects/events that draw tourists to the area will be reviewed individually to determine the potential impact it will have for tourism in Barnwell County.
FUNDING PRIORITIES/ELIGIBLE EXPENDITURES
Tourism Related Expenditures Authorized by S.C. Code 6-1-530 include:
Advertising and promotion of tourism so as to develop and increase tourist attendance through the generation of publicity;
Promotion of the arts and cultural events;
Construction, maintenance, and operation of facilities for civic and cultural activities including construction and maintenance of access and other nearby roads and utilities for the facilities;
The criminal justice system, law enforcement, fire protection solid waste collection, and health facilities when required to serve tourists and tourist facilities;
Public facilities such as restrooms, dressing rooms, parks, and parking lots;
Tourist shuttle transportation;
Control and repair of waterfront erosion, including beach renourishment;
Operating visitor information centers; and
Development of workforce housing, which must include programs to promote home ownership.
Priority will be given to projects that:
Generate overnight stays in Barnwell County’s lodging facilities; and
Promote and highlight Barnwell County’s historic and cultural venues, tourist related venues, recreational facilities and events, and the uniqueness and flavor of the local community.
OVERNIGHT JUSTIFICATION
In this section of the application, Barnwell County wants the applicant to estimate the number of meals that will be consumed in restaurants and overnight stays in areas of the County. Take the following items into consideration when making your estimations and provide a justification explaining how you came up with this number.
How many people will attend your event?
How many tourists are attending your event? How many hotel rooms are booked for your event?
Estimate the number of hotel room nights that will be booked due to your event. Are these rooms located in the County? How will you track this number? # rooms x # nights = estimated room nights booked
BUDGET
The budget should reflect in financial terms the actual costs of achieving the objectives of the project(s) you propose in your application. A budget form is provided for you as part of the application.
The project expenses section may or may not contain all of the listed “Budget Categories,” depending on the size and type of project you propose. Under project income, list known and anticipated funding sources, including any that are pending. Be sure to include the Barnwell County requests in this list. Also include the value of any in-kind contributions and mark as in-kind.
Budget Narrative/Justification - Please include a detailed description for each category included in the budget. A brief example is below:
• Marketing/Advertising – $5,000 for 6 billboards located in Charleston, Greenville, Myrtle Beach and Rock Hill. $1,000 for TV ads on WAAB $2,500 radio ads on Clear Channel Boston
• Security/Emergency Services: $100 fire marshal, $300 RC Sheriff’s Deputies
• Entertainment: $9,000 for 3 bands
Budget tips:
• Budgets MUST be entered on the budget form provided and MUST include a justification for A-Tax expenditures. This tells Barnwell County how you plan to spend grant funds.
• Grant funds must be used for tourism-related expenditures See the FUNDING PRIORITIES/ELIGIBLE EXPENDITURES section above for more information.
• Be as detailed as possible in your budget justification. This information will be compared to your payment requests. Items in your payment requests must appear in your application budget.
STATEMENT OF ASSURANCES
By signing and submitting the A-Tax Grant application, your organization is agreeing to the following Statement of Assurances:
• Upon grant application acceptance and funding award, applicant agrees that financial records, support documents, statistical records and all other records pertinent to Accommodations Tax funding shall be retained for a period of three years.
• All procurement transactions, regardless of whether negotiated or advertised and without regard to dollar value, shall be conducted in a manner so as to provide maximum open free competition.
• The funding recipient shall establish safeguards to prohibit employees from using their positions for a purpose that has the appearance of being motivated by a desire for private gain for themselves and others.
• All expenditures must have adequate documentation.
• All accounting records and supporting documentation shall be available for inspection by Barnwell County upon request.
• No person, on the basis of race, color, or national origin, should be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefit of or be otherwise subjected to discrimination under the program or activity funding in whole or in part by Accommodations Tax funds.
• Employment made by or resulting from Accommodations Tax funding shall not discriminate against any employee or applicant on the basis of handicap, age, race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
• None of the funds, materials, property, or services provided directly or indirectly under Accommodations Tax funding shall be used for any partisan political activity, or to further the election or defeat of any candidate for public office.
• The applicant hereby certifies that the information submitted as part of this application is accurate and reliable.
• Any change and/or variation must be reported immediately, otherwise, funding may be withheld.
APPLICATION EVALUATION
The Committee will use the following evaluation criteria to evaluate applications and proposed projects. The individual factors are important in project evaluation, as they are an indication of the degree to which the proposed project will contribute to tourism in Barnwell County. Please ensure that you review these factors and include the elements in your application. These factors, with their corresponding point values, are:
Project Design and Benefit to Community: 55 points maximum
Benefit to Tourism (20) - Does the project promote tourism in Barnwell County? Will it promote a positive image for the County? Will it attract visitors, build new audiences and encourage tourism expansion in Barnwell County? Will it increase awareness of Barnwell County’s amenities, history, facilities, and natural environment?
Reliable Tracking Mechanism and Marketing Plan (15) – How will visitors and tourists be tracked? (surveys, wristbands, ticketing, etc.) Are these methods viable? Does the marketing plan describe how the organization will reach tourists? Are at least 70% of the ads or other marketing expenses targeted outside the Barnwell County area? Is the expected number of tourists in line with the organization’s marketing plan?
Benefit to Community (10) - How will this project benefit the citizens of Barnwell County? Will the project benefit Barnwell County? Who will attend the event? How many visitors will the event serve? A visitor is defined by someone who travels at least 30 miles to attend the event.
Community Support and Partnerships (10) - Does the project have broad-based community appeal or support? What is the evidence of need for this project in Barnwell County? What kind and degree of partnership does the project exhibit? Does it exhibit volunteer involvement or inter-jurisdictional, corporate, business, and/or civic support?
Economic Impact and Accountability 45 points maximum
Budget (5) – Are all expenses that are to be paid with A-Tax funds eligible expenses? Did the budget and justification provide enough detail to show how funds will be spent?
Expected A-Tax Revenue Generated (15) - What are the projected direct and indirect dollar expenditures by visitors/tourists? What is the estimated number of meals consumed? Are any overnight stays anticipated? Will this program drive business to those businesses that collect and remit Barnwell County A-Taxes?
Reasonable Cost/Benefit Ratio (15) - Does the benefit of the project (i.e. number of tourists estimated; expected revenue generated) exceed the cost of the project? Is this project “worth” its cost?
Management Capability (10) - Does the applicant organization demonstrate an ability to successfully complete the project through effective business practices in the areas of finance, administration, marketing, and production? If this organization has received County Accommodations Tax funding previously, was the project successful?
APPLICATION PACKAGE
In order to be considered for funding, applicants must submit a complete application package for the A-Tax Grant. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Complete applications include:
• Completed and signed application form. Answer all questions and complete each section. N/A and See Attached are not valid responses.
• This application must be signed by an authorized representative of your organization, which has authority to sign on behalf of your entity. This is typically an Executive Director, Board President, or CEO.
• Required Attachments:
o Letter from IRS confirming tax exempt status (for non-profit organizations) and/or proof of registration and good standing with the SC Secretary of State’s Office and Business License (if located in municipality within Barnwell County)
o List of the organization’s current Board Members/Directors/Owners
Attachments MUST be submitted along with the proposal. Incomplete applications will not be evaluated. Applications must be submitted completely online with all necessary attachments uploaded within the online application.
Applications are due by 5pm on May 30, 2025, via online submission. No physical submissions will be accepted. Applications submitted after 5pm on May 30, 2025 will not be considered for funding.
AWARD NOTIFICATION
Applicant organizations will be notified of the funding outcome in writing by June 16, 2025. Awards will then be available for reimbursement. Final reports for the previous fiscal year, if applicable, as well as the current year, must be received before payments are released.
REPORTING AND GRANT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT REQUIREMENTS
Grantees must acknowledge the receipt of A-Tax County Marketing funding by including the Barnwell County logo, or by stating funding assistance provided through “Barnwell County Accommodations Tax” on all program/project advertising, marketing and promotional materials. Examples must be included in your final report.
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT NOTICE
Please be advised that all materials submitted for A-Tax County Marketing grant funding are subject to disclosure based on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
CONTACT
Hilary Hindman, Community Engagement Director, Barnwell County Administration Building, 57 Wall Street, Barnwell, SC 29812: hhindman@barnwellsc.com