Commissioners award 2025 Holmes Bed Tax Grants
The annual dispersal of Holmes County Bed Tax dollars from the commissioners is designed to help events like Berlin Harvest Festival, which brings in myriad visitors to the area.
On Monday, June 23, the Holmes County Commissioners officially distributed the annual Holmes County Bed Tax Grants to the area recipients, who were asked to stop by the Old Jail and sign an agreement with Susan Schie, Holmes County Commissioner’s clerk, that has them committing to do a report within six months.
The commissioners issued a total of $191,700 to 25 recipients, just slightly less than the $209,358 distributed one year ago when they presented grants to 23 organizations.
Commissioner Joe Miller said the grant program is built through bed tax funding from local lodging establishments.
“The lodging people are the ones collecting it, and they really watch where it goes,” Miller said of the grant funds. “We try to divide it up throughout the county, and we did have a couple of new ones this year.”
The following organizations were chosen as 2025 recipients of this year’s bed tax grant funding:
—Holmes County Historical Society and Victorian House Museum, $8,000 for marketing the historical society, Millersburg Glass Museum and Cultural Center.
—Holmes County Association for Handicapped Citizens, $3,000 for the 47th annual Spring Benefit & Festival.
—Winesburg Historical Society, $8,000 for upkeep of public restrooms, Laurel Park, Heritage Park, Kinsey Museum and Winesburg Tours.
—Winesburg Park & Recreation, $8,000 for park improvements, phase three.
—Holmes County Agricultural Society, $7,500 for marketing and advertising the Holmes County Fair.
—Harvest Ridge Event Center, $7,500 for marketing and advertising Harvest Ridge.
—Holmes County Antique Festival, $5,200 to promote the Antique Festival.
—Killbuck Early American Days, $7,000 to promote the Early American Days Festival.
—Glenmont Community Center, $6,000 to resurface the community center parking lot.
—Killbuck Valley Museum, $500 for the new exhibit “Ice Age Animals.”
—Marriage for Life Inc., $5,000 for its conference.
—Hiland Invitational Amish Basketball Tournament, $5,000 to promote and operate its tournament.
—Walnut Creek Business Association, $20,000 for its Vintage Fair, tree lighting service and Journey to Bethlehem.
—Scouters of Holmes County, $3,500 for the purchase of a new storage barn.
—Clark Community Center Inc., $3,000 for several community events.
—Winesburg Community Business Association, $6,000 for a new streetlight project.
—Berlin Main Street Merchants, $25,000 for Berlin Harvest Fest & Rib Cook-off, live nativity parade, and Music on the Square and other special events.
—Berlin Township Trustees, $5,000 for new playground equipment.
—Holmes Center for the Arts, $6,000 for variety shows.
—Historic Downtown Millersburg, $12,000 for Holmes County Arts Festival, Thunder Over Holmes County and Christmas Chocolate Walk.
—Classic in the Country, $8,000 for its annual girls high school basketball showcase.
—Mt. Hope Merchants’ Group, $15,000 for Mt. Hope welcome signs.
—Clark Community Center, $3,000 for the third annual Rock the Schoolhouse Car Show, concert and cornhole.
—Friends of Nashville, $5,000 for Nashville Christmas and Memorial Day festival ramp-up.
—Holmesville Community Center, $5,000 for buildings and grounds improvement.
—Holmes County Tourism Bureau, $10,000 for Holmes County Welcome Center remodeling.
—Holmes County Veterans, $5,000 for the Holmes County Veterans Memorial.
The bed tax grant program started in 1999 when then Commissioners Roger Clark and John Baker and current Commissioner Dave Hall spearheaded the movement to implement a program that would help support fledgling organizations and events that help bring people to the area for overnight stays.
Commissioner Joe Miller said that because there are so many people volunteering to step in and make these events and undertakings possible, it is an honor for the commissioners to step in and play a role in supporting each of them.
“Other counties don’t have that type of support in bringing people into their county,” Miller said. “We’re blessed to have people doing these events.”
Hall said they began working in partnership with the Holmes County Chamber to give these organizations and events a shot in the arm financially, and since that time, other counties have emulated this concept.
“It became a partnership with the chamber and always will be a partnership with the tourism board,” Hall said. “There’s a lot of need out there, and we want to make sure we get those dollars out there. That partnership has allowed us to send money back into the community.”
Miller said the theme of the grants is to present Holmes County as a welcoming county that encourages people to stay overnight, often inviting people to come back to Holmes County time and again, and the lodging industry in the county remains a vital cog in the process of building tourism.