Council approves HOT fund committee

The Lockhart City Council on Thursday voted to approve the creation of a committee charged with determining how to disperse Hotel Occupancy Tax funds, or HOT funds.
Councilmembers also voted to approve the five members and two alternates that will comprise the committee. Each measure passed by a vote of 6-1, with District 4 Councilmember Jeffry Michelson casting the dissenting votes.
The committee members will include former Lockhart Mayor Ray Sanders, former school board member and County Commissioner Alfredo Munoz, Lockhart City Manager Steve Lewis, Logos owner Janet Grigar and Lockhart Inn owner Parul Gandhi. The two alternatives, who will vote in place of any members who cannot be present at meetings, include Sally Daniel and Gretchen Rix.
HOT funds are typically dispersed by cities to organizations or events that result in increased stays in hotels, motels or bed and breakfasts located within city limits.
In the past, the Lockhart City Council has dispersed these funds in lump sums at the beginning of the year.
According to Mayor Lew White, the creation of the committee will help add more transparency to the process of distributing funds, as well as hold organizations receiving funds responsible for holding up their end of the agreement.

To read more, see this week’s edition of the Post-Register.