ARC 1820C
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY[261]
Notice of Intended Action
Twenty-five interested persons, a governmental subdivision, an agency or association of 25 or more persons may demand an oral presentation hereon as provided in Iowa Code section 17A.4(1)“b.”
Notice is also given to the public that the Administrative Rules Review Committee may, on its own motion or on written request by any individual or group, review this proposed action under section 17A.8(6) at a regular or special meeting where the public or interested persons may be heard.
Pursuant to the authority of Iowa Code section 15.106A, the Economic Development Authority gives Notice of Intended Action to amend Chapter 42, “Iowa Tourism Grant Program,” Iowa Administrative Code.
The rules in Chapter 42 describe the Iowa Tourism Grant Program. These amendments update the existing rules to provide grant applicants greater clarity on the standards for program eligibility, application scoring, and program administration.
The Economic Development Authority Board approved these amendments at a Board meeting held on December 19, 2014.
Interested persons may submit comments on or before February 10, 2015. Comments may be submitted to Nicole Shalla, Economic Development Authority, 200 East Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50309; telephone (515)725-3043; e-mail nicole.shalla@iowa.gov.
These amendments do not have any fiscal impact to the state of Iowa.
After analysis and review of this rule making, no impact on jobs has been found.
These amendments are intended to implement Iowa Code section 15.106A.
The following amendments are proposed.
	Item 1. Amend rule 261—42.1(15), definition of “Collaborative application,” as follows:
“Collaborative application” means an application in which either multiple partners are providing monetary support for the project or multiple partners are actively participating in the project or both.
	Item 2. Amend paragraph 42.3(1)“b” as follows:
	b. 	The applicant shall demonstrate an amount of local match equal to at least 25 percent of the amount of grant funds to be received by the applicant under the program. The local match shall be in the form of cash. The local match must consist of eligible expenses as described in rule 261—42.6(15).
	Item 3. Amend paragraph 42.3(2)“c” as follows:
	c. 	Documentation Written documentation that the grant request is consistent with the cost of implementing the project. Examples of documentation include but are not limited to advertising rate sheets, bids, quotes, and invoices.
	Item 4. Rescind paragraph 42.4(1)“f” and adopt the following new paragraph in lieu thereof:
	f. 	Budget: 10 points. The authority will view favorably budgets that are well-developed and relevant to the project.
	Item 5. Amend subrule 42.4(2) as follows:
	42.4(2) Approval process. The director of the authority will establish a review committee consisting of members of the Iowa tourism industry. The committee will score all completed applications in accordance with the criteria described in rules 261—42.3(15) and 261—42.4(15) and will use those scores to determine successful applicants. The committee may recommend partial funding of any or all applicants. If, after initially scoring all of the completed applications, the review committee is not able to allocate all the funds available or if any awards are rejected, the authority may allow one or more additional rounds of applications to be submitted and scored. Before the execution of contracts, the authority will provide an award letter for each successful applicant to indicate the applicant’s acceptance or rejection of the recommended award amount. If any awards are rejected, the authority may allow one or more additional rounds of applications to be submitted and scored. For each additional round of applications, the authority will follow the same eligibility requirements and use the same scoring criteria as used in earlier rounds. The authority may accept as many rounds of applications for awards as it deems appropriate.
	Item 6. Amend paragraph 42.6(2)“a” as follows:
	a. 	The costs associated with all phases of the execution of marketing tactics and strategies, including planning and design and production of tools such as advertising, print materials, and digital tools and exhibits.
	Item 7. Amend subrule 42.6(3) as follows:
	42.6(3) Ineligible expenses. Expenses that are not directly related to the implementation of a tourism-related marketing project or a meeting, an event or a professional development project will be deemed ineligible. Ineligible expenses include but are not limited to vertical infrastructure; applicant staff salaries and wages; solicitation efforts; lobbying fees; items that are purchased for resale; prizes given to participants or event/festival attendees; alcoholic beverages; internships; all travel, meal and lodging costs of applicant staff or the applicant’s contractor; projects that receive funding from the authority’s regional sports authority district program; marketing programs already subsidized by the authority including, but not limited to, advertising in the Iowa travel guide or participation in the cooperative partnership program; or a project of an Iowa tourism region.