Almost a month after the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) came into effect in B.C., it’s still unclear how Whistler and other resort communities will receive the four per cent hotel tax in the future.

The latest news from the Province is that some sort of grant program will be introduced to distribute the tourism development money, said Lisa Landry, the municipality’s general manager of economic viability.

“They haven’t outlined yet exactly what that specifically means,” she said Tuesday (July 27).

It’s expected that municipal officials will have to apply for funding for specific projects under the new grant system, Landry said. She speculated that the amount of funding could change, but not by a lot.

Provincial officials have heard loud and clear from Whistler and other resort communities in B.C. that the four per cent hotel tax funding is important to the tourism industry, she said.

“I don’t think that there’s going to be a huge change — that would come as a surprise,” Landry said.

And while provincial officials hammer out the details of the anticipated grant program, they’ve also indicated the four per cent funding is secure through the end of 2010. The pre-HST model of issuing a cheque for each month of local hotel tax revenue will remain through the end of the year, Landry said.

“That’s heartening,” she said.

It’s not clear how the amounts for July to December will be calculated, since the previous eight per cent B.C. Hotel Room Tax was replaced by the HST, but Landry guessed the Province may simply use last year’s figures or double the additional two per cent amount.

Landry said she expects to hear more detail on the new grant program in September.

Whistler first started receiving its four per cent hotel tax share in 2007, under what was considered a groundbreaking agreement for resort communities. More than $6.6 million is expected to flow into municipal hall in 2010 alone, with a projected increase to $7.4 million annually by 2014, according to budget documents.

The four per cent hotel tax helps pay for many local services, programs and projects, with everything from RCMP overtime and the Village Shuttle bus service to public art, contributions to the Whistler Arts Council and recreational trail development.

Under provincial regulations, Whistler also levies an additional two per cent hotel tax to help pay for tourism marketing and development. The extra two per cent will continue as it did before the HST as an additional tax, Landry said. The two per cent tax is expected to bring about $3.3 million to municipal hall in 2010.