RAPZ / Restaurant Tax Board Meeting 08-26-2026

- The board unanimously approved the meeting agenda and then elected Catherine Butte as board chair by acclamation, with the code clarification that the chair must be one of the two elected council members. - Alma reviewed recent county code changes affecting the RAPZ/Restaurant program, including moving administration under the county auditor/finance office, clarifying the board as a seven-member advisory body with two-year terms going forward, and requiring written disclosures for conflicts of interest. - The board discussed new rules for out-of-cycle requests, formal scope-change requests, reimbursement-only awards, deadlines for spending approved funds, activity/final reporting requirements, logo use, and forfeiture of any unused awarded funds back into RAPZ funding. - Members raised concerns about the code language banning indirect costs, administrative overhead, and facilities expenses, noting it may conflict with how some projects are normally structured; staff and council agreed the ordinance language needs cleanup and clearer intent. - For the American West Heritage Center out-of-cycle request, staff explained the project’s prior approvals and the retroactive nature of the request. After discussion, the board recommended funding the Heritage Center’s additional request at $125,000. - The Lyric Theatre seating upgrade request drew substantial discussion about the theater’s role in Logan’s arts district, downtown vitality, year-round programming potential, and the value of matching funds from the Cache Valley Visitors Bureau and Cash Valley Bank. - Public commenters from the Lyric/USU side emphasized that the renovation is needed, that the theater draws significant attendance and supports the broader arts ecosystem, and that the project would improve accessibility and usability for patrons and community events. - Several board members expressed concern that the Lyric request was an out-of-cycle, university-affiliated project and debated whether it should receive full funding; proposed amounts ranged from $50,000 to $270,000. - The board ultimately reached a split consensus around recommending $200,000 for the Lyric Theatre project, and approved a formal motion to send both recommendations to the council. - Alma also flagged a potential future request from a nonprofit radio station, noting state code appears to allow such funding, and the board discussed routing future emergency/out-of-cycle items through the council chair and vice chair to avoid opening the floodgates.