Marina Blatt reports from the Oak Harbor City Council meeting of Tue., Nov. 18, 2025 for the Whidbey News-Times. Read the whole story.
Summary by Perplexity.ai
Oak Harbor’s City Council reviewed 2026 lodging tax grants recommended by the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee during their meeting last week. Most of the committee’s recommendations were accepted, including more than $162,000 for two Chamber of Commerce projects. However, the City’s request of $55,000 for a Marina Debt Service grant — intended to avoid hiking utility taxes — was only approved by the committee for $24,900. Because state law prevents the council from altering a single award directly, council members are asking the committee, during its mandatory 45‑day review, to reconsider all recommendations and specifically whether the marina grant can be increased.
They Said It
During the meeting, Councilmember Bryan Stucky, who serves as the lodging tax committee chair, explained that the decision was unanimous but not easy. The recommendations are based on scoring process, he said.
Stucky and the other council members, however, agreed that they want to avoid utility tax hikes.
