Charles City Earmarks $30,000 Hotel-Motel Tax for Two Pickleball Courts

Charles City staff told the Parks & Recreation Board in February that roughly $30,000 of the board’s share of hotel/motel tax funds has been earmarked to convert an existing tennis court into two pickleball courts, according to a meeting summary printed in a February 27 legal/meeting publication. The summary itself records the amount as “roughly $30,000” and truncates the project location after the letters “Spo,” leaving the full site name unspecified in the published excerpt.

The earmark was described in the meeting summary as a use of the Parks Board’s portion of hotel/motel tax revenue rather than as a final contract or completed expenditure. The summary language reads in full: “At a February Parks & Recreation Board meeting summarized in a February 27 legal/meeting publication, Charles City staff reported that roughly $30,000 of the board’s share of hotel/motel tax funds has been earmarked to convert an existing tennis court into two pickleball courts at Spo” — with the location cut off in the available text.

That proposed use fits within the Charles City Hotel/Motel Tax Steering Committee Financial Assistance Program’s stated parameters. The program guidelines say, “Hotel/Motel Tax funds can be used to fund projects for events/tournaments, conventions, facilities, and marketing projects that create tourism activity and generate lodging revenue for Charles City.” The program document further defines the fund as “seed money to encourage growth of tourism activity” and notes it is “made possible through a lodging surcharge tax.”

The program application form visible in the committee materials indicates the city tracks standard project information and approvals. Fields shown include “Project Start Date,” “Project Competition Date,” “One sentence project summary,” “AMOUNT APPROVED $,” and “REQUESTED DATE FOR PAYMENT.” The form also establishes a post-completion reporting obligation: “Please provide the following as a follow-up to your Hotel/Motel Tax application within 30 days of the completion of the project. Failure to submit a project report within 30 days of the completion of the project will render the applicant ineligible for Hotel/Motel Tax funds for one year from the date of project completion.”

Key details remain unresolved in the published excerpts. The full name and address of the site identified only as “Spo” are not provided in the meeting summary, the $30,000 figure is described as approximate rather than exact, and the documents do not state whether the Parks & Recreation Board or the Hotel/Motel Tax Steering Committee has taken a formal vote to approve release of funds. The meeting summary is a staff report printed February 27; the Parks Board minutes, any steering committee approval paperwork, and a project budget or timeline are not included in the available materials.

For administrative questions, the program materials list the Charles City Chamber of Commerce at 401 North Main Street, Charles City, Iowa 50616, and identify Ginger Williams as Hotel/Motel Tax Committee Secretary, reachable at (641) 228-4234 or ginger@charlescitychamber.com. The earmark ties a local capital improvement directly to the city’s hotel/motel tax program, with the conversion scoped as turning a single tennis court into two pickleball courts pending confirmation of location, exact funding, and formal approvals.