§ 664. Application procedures

(a) Travel promotion organizations, applying for a matching fund grant, must present their proposed travel development promotion programs to the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing in detail, and must further describe sources of local funds available for those purposes.

(b) Annually, the Agency, in consultation with the Travel and Recreation Council, shall establish a schedule for applying for and awarding matching funds. The Agency may establish more than one application cycle, provided that at least one competition for funds is conducted annually, and further provided that application cycles are such as to maintain a competitive matching grants program. The Travel and Recreation Council shall evaluate the relative merits of the applications based upon criteria established under this subchapter and make recommendations to the Agency as to a priority of applications which merit funding. The Secretary in consultation with the Commissioner of Tourism and Marketing shall review the recommendations of the Travel and Recreation Council and make final decisions regarding the funding of proposals under the matching grants programs.

(c) All applications will be reviewed and evaluated on the basis of the following:

(1) geographic area covered in application;

(2) scope of short- and long-range planning;

(3) program content; and

(4) projected impact on geographic area covered in application.

(d) Grants will be made to those organizations that best meet the purposes of this chapter and according to the availability of funds, but no grant will exceed the amount raised by the organization and applied to its proposed programs.

(e) Organizations receiving grants will be carefully evaluated, and risk elimination of their grants when a lack of effort, cooperation, and adherence to proposed programs is displayed. No travel promotion agency may act as a "feeder facility" simply to disburse State matching funds to a private sector business for the promotion of its private functions.

(f) Upon receiving and approving a given application, the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing will notify the organization of the grant amount in writing and execute a contract between that organization and the Department of Development. (Added 1979, No. 137 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. April 22, 1980; amended 1987, No. 83, § 5; 1995, No. 190 (Adj. Sess.), § 1(c), (d).)