Jacob Dimond / jake@yelmonline.com
During a Yelm City Council meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 14, Yelm City Council unanimously approved $95,400 in Lodging Tax Advisory Commitee (LTAC) funding to be awarded to 10 different local events set to occur in 2026.
LTAC allocations for 2026:
Nisqually Valley Barbecue Rally: $16,000
Visitor and Convention Bureau of Thurston County: $7,000
Nisqually Valley Spring Expo: $8,000
Jazz in the Park: $5,600
Clues and Brews: $6,400
Standing Room Only Theater: $9,600
City of Yelm fireworks: $30,000
City of Yelm Prairie Days: $11,200
City of Yelm Backyard Bricks: $1,600
Yelm City Clerk Kathy Linnemeyer spoke to council during the meeting and highlighted the process to apply for and receive LTAC funding.
“If you remember, earlier this year we decided to change the schedule of when we open applications to make it easier for the events and bringing our timeline more align with cities in Thurston County,” Linnemeyer said. “We opened the application process, accepted applications, and these applications are for funding next year. This will allow the events to be able to be planned better. They’re already working on their events for next year. Knowing ahead of time if they have funding or how much funding they have will help them prepare better for their events.”
According to the city clerk, Yelm received “quite a few applications” for 2026 LTAC funding. Though the City of Yelm only allocated $40,000 to award in LTAC funding next year, the recommended amount was over double the amount of what was budgeted.
“Just know ahead of time that if this is approved, it will also need to be approved as part of the regular budget amendment that will come before you next month,” Linnemeyer said. “That will be the final step in approving these. If you approve them tonight, it will be step one. We won’t officially reach out to the organizations until after the budget amendment is approved also. We can’t award more than what we’ve approved in the budget.
“The City of Yelm, at some point back, did not award LTAC funds for years,” she continued. “That fund grew. It’s probably not normal to have that excess fund amount in there. We bring in roughly between $25,000 and $35,000 a year is what we bring in with LTAC funds. Awarding additional funds is not sustainable over the long haul, but at this point, there’s still money in there that’s not earmarked for any other cause.”
Mayor Joe DePinto added that one of the reasons the LTAC allocations are projected to be larger than normal is because “every once in a while,” the City of Yelm has big celebrations such as the centennial in 2024. He pointed at the 250th birthday of the United States of America as being a “big event” to occur next year in Yelm and nationally.
Line Roy, the City of Yelm’s communications and recreation coordinator, also provided background on the Backyard Bricks event, which will be new to Yelm next year and is tentatively scheduled for the end of 2026.
“A little less than a year ago, a friend dragged me to a Lego show in Vancouver,” Roy said. “I loved the community that they built with that group, and I wanted to find a way to pull that back into Yelm. I went to another show, and then suckered them into coming to Yelm for a show. It’s a two-day event, which qualifies for LTAC because we’re bringing people from out of 50 miles away to our community.”
