The Monte Vista Chamber of Commerce is responsible for distributing the share of the Rio Grande County Lodging Tax for the Monte Vista area. The Chamber has set up a committee to handle this task which includes members from the Rio Grande County and the City of Monte Vista as well as Chamber representatives.
On this page you will find information about the application process and requirements as well as downloadable documents available for the process.
On this page you will find information about the application process and requirements as well as downloadable documents available for the process.
Monte Vista Chamber of Commerce Tourism Committee
Application for Lodging Tax Grants
The purpose of the Monte Vista Chamber of Commerce Tourism Committee is to advertise and market tourism for the benefit of the unincorporated areas and municipalities where the County lodging tax is collected. In furtherance of this goal, the Monte Vista Chamber of Commerce Tourism Committee will consider funding for Advertisements, Maintenance, and Events. The Committee reserves the right to grant or refuse funding based on economic conditions both current and/or anticipated. Additionally, if any major funding is requested, current Committee members with any relationship to the entity requesting funding must fully disclose that relationship. If in the estimation of the Committee this relationship will cause a conflict of interest, the member must abstain from voting on the request.
"FUNDING IS PROVIDED BY THE MONTE VISTA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE TOURISM COMMITTEE THROUGH COUNTY LODGING TAX COLLECTED. ALL PROJECTS/FUNDING MUST INCLUDE THE MONTE VISTA CHAMBER LOGO AND CHAMBER WEBSITE. THE TOURISM COMMITTEE MUST BE INCLUDED ON ALL LISTINGS AS A SPONSOR.
Tourism: Economic activity resulting from tourists, which may include sales of overnight lodging, meals, tours, gifts, or souvenirs.
Tourism promotion: Activities and expenditures designed to increase tourism, including but not limited to advertising, publicizing, or otherwise distributing information for the purpose of attracting and welcoming tourists; developing strategies to expand tourism; and funding marketing of special events and festivals designed to attract tourists.
Who May Apply?The funding program is open to organizations with the demonstrated ability to achieve tourism goals as outlined below:
Application requirementsAll organizations seeking funding under this program must submit a completed application form along with all required documentation to be considered for funding. Applications must be submitted a minimum of 60 days prior to the event. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
Funding through the Rio Grande County Lodging Tax is not meant to be a lifetime funding source.
MINOR PROJECTS: Are considered individual projects requiring $2500 or less to complete. Minor projects can be submitted to the Committee at any time for consideration.
GRANTS/MAJOR PROJECTS: Are large, multi-faceted projects requiring funding more than $2,500.00 for completion.
In addition to the standard application form, Grants/Major Projects require a written proposal, a detailed project budget, timeline and a final report detailing how the project met its stated goals.
PROJECT PROPOSAL: The project proposal will consist of a detailed description of the purpose of the project, the project’s goals, and impact on tourism within the County, measurements to assess the project’s effectiveness and a timeline showing how/when the different project components will be completed and how they will fit together. The project timeline is critical to the effective organization of the project and is an efficient tool for the Tourism Committee to use to assess the proper management of the project. It will also be used in determining the scheduling of periodic disbursement of funds. The proposal must include the name(s) of the individual(s) who will have fiscal responsibility for the funds provided by the Tourism Committee.
PROJECT BUDGET: The project budget should include, but not be limited to, the various matching fund, income and expense categories associated with the project.
PROJECT FUNDING: Major projects will be funded as a matching grant, requiring a 20% cash match from organization(s) other than the Monte Vista Chamber Tourism Committee (‘in kind’ matching will not be considered as meeting this requirement).
Organizations awarded funds will be required to provide “follow up report” within 60 days of completion of event, or as agreed upon and stated in reporting schedule. Funding will be disbursed as a single payment and only to the agency/individual noted on the application. This agency/individual is responsible for proper utilization of the funds and for submitting a final report to the Monte Vista Chamber Tourism Committee upon completion of the project. This report must include copies of receipts, ad copies, and/or other details of how the funding was spent. Advertising and Event Funding should also include statistical data that can be used to help determine the value of future funding. All unused or unsubstantiated funds must be returned to the Monte Vista Chamber Tourism Committee.
PROGRESS REPORTING: The project manager, or other responsible project representative, must provide the Tourism Committee with periodic progress reports at a schedule agreed upon by both parties.
FINAL REPORT: The Final Report will be a project critique showing the strengths and weaknesses of the project and, most importantly, the measurements of the project’s effectiveness. The final report must include receipts to substantiate the work in which Monte Vista Chamber Tourism Committee funds were utilized. All unused or unsubstantiated funds must be returned to the Monte Vista Chamber Tourism Committee.
FUNDING REQUEST PROTOCOL: To be considered by the Monte Vista Chamber Tourism Committee, all funding requests must be accompanied by the appropriate paperwork as outlined in the Committee’s Granting Policy. Applicants may present an idea to the Committee Prior to submitting a formal funding request to explore if it is something that would interest the Committee. However, no action will be taken until a formal request has been submitted.
All proposals must contain sufficient specific details to enable the Committee to fully understand the proposal and to make an informed decision.
No changes may be made to an approved funding request without prior approval of the Committee.
As required by the Granting Policy, recipients of Tourism Funding must submit all require follow up reports. Failure to do so will have a negative impact when considering future requests from the organization.
When considering co-op ads initiated by other parties, the Committee may grant preliminary approval; however, final approval form participation will not be granted until the Committee has reviewed and approved the final copy of the ad. The initiating party will be required to pay all costs of the ad and on receipt of an invoice which includes a published copy of the ad and copy of the original funding request, the Committee will reimburse for its agreed upon share.
Funding requests must be submitted a minimum of 5 days prior to Committee meeting dates. Meetings will be held on the first Monday of each month. This will allow Committee members sufficient time to fully review, understand and vet the proposal. If necessary, the Committee will postpone funding decisions to the next meeting if clarification(s) are necessary for the proposal. It is incumbent on the applicant to submit all proposals and funding requests in a timely manner. The Committee will not hold special meetings, nor go to extraordinary lengths to accommodate an applicant’s compressed schedule.
All applications, proposals, inquiries, documentation, and final reports can be sent electronically to chamber@montevistachamber.org , delivered in person, or mailed to the Monte Vista Chamber of Commerce at 947 1st Avenue in Monte Vista during business hours.
Application for Lodging Tax Grants
The purpose of the Monte Vista Chamber of Commerce Tourism Committee is to advertise and market tourism for the benefit of the unincorporated areas and municipalities where the County lodging tax is collected. In furtherance of this goal, the Monte Vista Chamber of Commerce Tourism Committee will consider funding for Advertisements, Maintenance, and Events. The Committee reserves the right to grant or refuse funding based on economic conditions both current and/or anticipated. Additionally, if any major funding is requested, current Committee members with any relationship to the entity requesting funding must fully disclose that relationship. If in the estimation of the Committee this relationship will cause a conflict of interest, the member must abstain from voting on the request.
"FUNDING IS PROVIDED BY THE MONTE VISTA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE TOURISM COMMITTEE THROUGH COUNTY LODGING TAX COLLECTED. ALL PROJECTS/FUNDING MUST INCLUDE THE MONTE VISTA CHAMBER LOGO AND CHAMBER WEBSITE. THE TOURISM COMMITTEE MUST BE INCLUDED ON ALL LISTINGS AS A SPONSOR.
- Advertisements should be placed outside of Rio Grande County and are used as a tool to attract tourism to the area; these can include but are not limited to: Magazines, Newspaper, Radio, Television, Web, and E- mail based media.
- Events should be those designed to draw in outside guests, and encourage overnight stays, not those that are established just to keep the locals busy. Advertisements for events should be placed outside the county.
Tourism: Economic activity resulting from tourists, which may include sales of overnight lodging, meals, tours, gifts, or souvenirs.
Tourism promotion: Activities and expenditures designed to increase tourism, including but not limited to advertising, publicizing, or otherwise distributing information for the purpose of attracting and welcoming tourists; developing strategies to expand tourism; and funding marketing of special events and festivals designed to attract tourists.
Who May Apply?The funding program is open to organizations with the demonstrated ability to achieve tourism goals as outlined below:
- Increase hotel occupancy in Rio Grande County by creating overnight stays.
- Increase overnight stays during the off season.
- Provide visitor attractions and/or promotes the area’s existing attractions.
- Attracts more businesses to Rio Grande County thereby generates additional business for hotels and motels.
Application requirementsAll organizations seeking funding under this program must submit a completed application form along with all required documentation to be considered for funding. Applications must be submitted a minimum of 60 days prior to the event. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
Funding through the Rio Grande County Lodging Tax is not meant to be a lifetime funding source.
- Year 1-5 are considered start up years, with funding requests reduced annually by 10% as the event/project becomes established.
- After 5 years, the event/project should show enough community/sponsorship/matching funds as to need no more than 50% of its whole budget from the Tourism Committee, at which time the Committee should become a standard sponsor versus funding source.
MINOR PROJECTS: Are considered individual projects requiring $2500 or less to complete. Minor projects can be submitted to the Committee at any time for consideration.
GRANTS/MAJOR PROJECTS: Are large, multi-faceted projects requiring funding more than $2,500.00 for completion.
In addition to the standard application form, Grants/Major Projects require a written proposal, a detailed project budget, timeline and a final report detailing how the project met its stated goals.
PROJECT PROPOSAL: The project proposal will consist of a detailed description of the purpose of the project, the project’s goals, and impact on tourism within the County, measurements to assess the project’s effectiveness and a timeline showing how/when the different project components will be completed and how they will fit together. The project timeline is critical to the effective organization of the project and is an efficient tool for the Tourism Committee to use to assess the proper management of the project. It will also be used in determining the scheduling of periodic disbursement of funds. The proposal must include the name(s) of the individual(s) who will have fiscal responsibility for the funds provided by the Tourism Committee.
PROJECT BUDGET: The project budget should include, but not be limited to, the various matching fund, income and expense categories associated with the project.
PROJECT FUNDING: Major projects will be funded as a matching grant, requiring a 20% cash match from organization(s) other than the Monte Vista Chamber Tourism Committee (‘in kind’ matching will not be considered as meeting this requirement).
Organizations awarded funds will be required to provide “follow up report” within 60 days of completion of event, or as agreed upon and stated in reporting schedule. Funding will be disbursed as a single payment and only to the agency/individual noted on the application. This agency/individual is responsible for proper utilization of the funds and for submitting a final report to the Monte Vista Chamber Tourism Committee upon completion of the project. This report must include copies of receipts, ad copies, and/or other details of how the funding was spent. Advertising and Event Funding should also include statistical data that can be used to help determine the value of future funding. All unused or unsubstantiated funds must be returned to the Monte Vista Chamber Tourism Committee.
PROGRESS REPORTING: The project manager, or other responsible project representative, must provide the Tourism Committee with periodic progress reports at a schedule agreed upon by both parties.
FINAL REPORT: The Final Report will be a project critique showing the strengths and weaknesses of the project and, most importantly, the measurements of the project’s effectiveness. The final report must include receipts to substantiate the work in which Monte Vista Chamber Tourism Committee funds were utilized. All unused or unsubstantiated funds must be returned to the Monte Vista Chamber Tourism Committee.
FUNDING REQUEST PROTOCOL: To be considered by the Monte Vista Chamber Tourism Committee, all funding requests must be accompanied by the appropriate paperwork as outlined in the Committee’s Granting Policy. Applicants may present an idea to the Committee Prior to submitting a formal funding request to explore if it is something that would interest the Committee. However, no action will be taken until a formal request has been submitted.
All proposals must contain sufficient specific details to enable the Committee to fully understand the proposal and to make an informed decision.
No changes may be made to an approved funding request without prior approval of the Committee.
As required by the Granting Policy, recipients of Tourism Funding must submit all require follow up reports. Failure to do so will have a negative impact when considering future requests from the organization.
When considering co-op ads initiated by other parties, the Committee may grant preliminary approval; however, final approval form participation will not be granted until the Committee has reviewed and approved the final copy of the ad. The initiating party will be required to pay all costs of the ad and on receipt of an invoice which includes a published copy of the ad and copy of the original funding request, the Committee will reimburse for its agreed upon share.
Funding requests must be submitted a minimum of 5 days prior to Committee meeting dates. Meetings will be held on the first Monday of each month. This will allow Committee members sufficient time to fully review, understand and vet the proposal. If necessary, the Committee will postpone funding decisions to the next meeting if clarification(s) are necessary for the proposal. It is incumbent on the applicant to submit all proposals and funding requests in a timely manner. The Committee will not hold special meetings, nor go to extraordinary lengths to accommodate an applicant’s compressed schedule.
All applications, proposals, inquiries, documentation, and final reports can be sent electronically to chamber@montevistachamber.org , delivered in person, or mailed to the Monte Vista Chamber of Commerce at 947 1st Avenue in Monte Vista during business hours.
Available documents :
Monte Vista Chamber of Commerce Tourism Committee Application for Lodging Tax Grants - entire document
Monte Vista Chamber of Commerce Tourism Committee Application for Lodging Tax Grants - information portion only
Monte Vista Chamber of Commerce Tourism Committee Application for Lodging Tax Grants - request portion only
Monte Vista Chamber of Commerce Tourism Committee Application for Lodging Tax Grants - entire document
Monte Vista Chamber of Commerce Tourism Committee Application for Lodging Tax Grants - information portion only
Monte Vista Chamber of Commerce Tourism Committee Application for Lodging Tax Grants - request portion only