The Riverton City Council is forming a city council subcommittee to review applications for this year’s Tourism Asset Development grant program.
The job was previously assigned to the Riverton Chamber of Commerce, but the council terminated that agreement last month after a financial review of the local TAD program.
The Chamber had already solicited and received TAD grant applications for the 2024 season by that point, however, city staff said in a memo this week.
“City staff has received these applications and recommends the city council utilize them as it considers the award of funds from the TAD program to community members,” the memo states.
Staff also recommended giving the Chamber a chance to apply for a TAD grant this year.
“That is a fair thing to do,” City Administrator Kyle Butterfield said, noting that the Chamber “very promptly remitted the TAD monies from its account to the city after the aforementioned change happened.”
The city has also received a quarterly TAD disbursement from the Wind River Visitors Council, he said, bringing the total amount in Riverton’s new TAD account to more than $31,000.
The WRVC allocates 25 percent of Fremont County’s lodging tax revenues to the TAD program for use by local communities.
Mayor Tim Hancock proposed appointing Councilmembers Mike Bailey, Kristy Salisbury and Karla Borders to the TAD program subcommittee, which will present grant recommendations to the full city council for approval later this month.
“It makes sense that, for now, it would be a subcommittee of the council (to) get this going,” Hancock said.
After this year’s applications are processed, he said the council “could consider how we want to do this going forward,” perhaps by appointing a citizen committee to recommend local TAD grant recipients.
For more information, call the City of Riverton at 856-2227.