The Oak Harbor City Council approved the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee's recommendations for 2026 lodging-tax grants but directed that the committee revisit funding for the Oak Harbor Marina debt service.

Grants Administrator Wendy Horn told council the council previously approved a total of $475,000 for 2026 grant awards, with $50,000 earmarked for Whidbey and Camano tourism and $17,000 previously allocated for Chalk Fest; Parks subsequently indicated it would not pursue Chalk Fest, freeing up that $17,000. Horn said 21 applications were received and 15 were recommended for funding; total requests approached $800,000 and staff was recommending distribution of roughly $408,000 among applicants.

Public commenters representing downtown and festival organizers stressed the community value of events. "Oak Grove Main Street is the primary advocate for the heart of our city being downtown," Cheryl Graham said, urging support for Main Street events. Cynthia Lisonbee, president of the Oak Harbor Music Festival, described the festival's volunteer base and fiscal stewardship and asked council to consider the festival when allocating funds.

Council debate centered on whether to accept LTAC’s unanimous recommendations as presented or to instruct LTAC to rework allocations so the marina debt service could be fully funded without reducing support for other programs. Several councilmembers argued for using the unexpected $17,000 and an additional roughly $14,000 from the council's discretion to fully fund the $55,000 marina debt-service request rather than increasing utility tax or leaving the marina underfunded. Councilmember Wiesner moved to approve all LTAC recommendations except the marina debt-service item and to send that item back to LTAC with direction to fully fund it, including allocation of an additional $14,000; the motion passed with one abstention.

Next steps: the council will return a dollarized proposal for the marina debt-service funding to the LTAC committee for the mandatory 45-day review mandated by RCW guidance; council may adopt final dollar amounts after that process.