City of Mauldin Accommodations Tax Grant Program

The City of Mauldin administers the Mauldin Accommodations Tax Grant Program using revenues derived from South Carolina's 2 percent tax on accommodations such as hotels and inns. The South Carolina Department of Revenue collects the tax and distributes revenues back to cities and counties under a formula based on where the tax was collected. Local governments then determine how the funds will be used consistent with state law and its purpose of promoting tourism. For this program, the City of Mauldin makes accommodations tax funds available for projects and activities that attract tourists to, provide for tourists in, and promote tourism within the City of Mauldin. Grant funds must support tourism-related expenditures and cannot be used for purely local functions that cannot be directly connected to tourism. Examples identified in the program guidance include advertising and promotion intended to increase tourist attendance; promotion of arts and cultural events; construction, maintenance, and operation of civic and cultural facilities; certain law enforcement, fire protection, solid waste, criminal justice, and health facility costs attributable to tourists; public facilities such as restrooms, dressing rooms, parks, and parking lots; tourist shuttle transportation; waterfront erosion control and repair; visitor information centers; and qualifying workforce housing development. An expenditure generally must both attract or provide for tourists and not represent an item the municipality would normally be required to provide. The guidance notes that industry standards generally define a tourist as a person traveling more than 50 miles from home. Eligible applicants are governmental agencies, boards, commissions, or political subdivisions other than entities specifically designated as state agencies, and not-for-profit organizations registered with the Secretary of State of South Carolina. Applicants are encouraged to treat accommodations tax funding as supplementary to their budgets, seek other funding sources, and develop diversified financial support. Funding is generally provided on a reimbursement basis. Recipients must provide a final project accounting, invoices and evidence of payment for requested reimbursements, proof of performance for advertising purchases, and a final evaluation documenting tourism generated, total attendance, the overall project budget, and how the project attracted and promoted tourists to Mauldin. Any profit generated by the funded program or event must be deducted from the final reimbursement. Applicants must complete the City's official application and provide information about the organization, organization type, federal employer identification number, address and contact information, event or project name, location, dates or completion schedule, website, event type, project description, projected attendance and tourist attendance, methods for tracking tourists, admission cost, projected revenue, total budget, amount requested, planned use of grant funds, and how the proposed use will promote tourism in Mauldin. Applicants must also describe their marketing and promotional activities, including media types, budgeted amounts, target geographic areas, and anticipated reach beyond 50 miles. The application asks for information about expected use of Mauldin hotels and inns, length of stay, room blocks, methods for measuring lodging impact, special hotel rates or packages, and initiatives intended to generate hotel activity. The City states that priority may be given to projects or events capable of generating overnight stays in Mauldin. A completed and signed application must be accompanied by a proposed marketing plan, a detailed budget of all event or project expenditures, a detailed budget identifying all sources and amounts of income and revenue, an IRS letter confirming nonprofit status, confirmation of nonprofit registration with the South Carolina Secretary of State, and the organization's most recent audited financial statements. If audited financial statements are unavailable, the applicant may instead provide its most recent IRS Form 990 or South Carolina Secretary of State Public Charities Division Annual Financial Report. Awarded organizations must comply with the City's applicable procurement requirements, maintain adequate expenditure documentation, make records available for inspection, retain pertinent grant records for at least three years, provide maximum competition in procurement transactions, comply with nondiscrimination and political activity restrictions, promote hotels and inns within Mauldin, and submit a detailed final report. Applications are reviewed by the Mauldin Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee, which may ask an applicant to attend a committee meeting to answer questions. The committee makes funding recommendations to the City Council, and the City Council makes the final funding decision. The handbook does not state award amounts, an award floor or ceiling, the total amount available, the expected number of awards, a required cost share or matching contribution, an application opening date, or an award notification date. Funding in one year does not guarantee funding in a later year, and organizations seeking support must submit a separate application for each request in each year. The application deadline is September 30, 2026, at 2:00 PM ET. Applicants must email a PDF copy of the application and supporting materials to Lisa Clark at LClark@MauldinCitySC.com. Attachments of 10 MB or more must instead be delivered on a USB flash drive by the same deadline to the Mauldin Business and Development Services Office, 5 E. Butler Road, Mauldin, SC 29662. The materials do not identify a pre-application, letter of intent, concept paper, or other application-gating deadline. The annual framing of the program and requirement to apply separately in each year support treating the opportunity as recurring, with the next expected cycle projected for September 2027 based on the current September deadline.

Demonstrate that expenditures directly attract or provide for tourists; quantify outreach beyond 50 miles; explain how tourist counts and hotel activity will be measured; emphasize potential overnight stays in Mauldin because priority may be given to projects that generate them; maintain receipts, advertising proof of performance, procurement compliance, and final evaluation documentation