Lakeway City Council unanimously approved funding for the event Feb. 21 from the city's hotel occupancy tax, Council Member Louis Mastrangelo said.
“This isn’t tax dollars we’re paying from our property taxes,” Mastrangelo said. “This isn’t sales tax dollars from when you go to H-E-B. The only time you may have paid into this fund as a Lakeway citizen is if you stayed at a local hotel.”
Kat Albert, the Lake Travis Film Festival executive director, said the hotel taxes will be used according to statute for promotion of the arts, registration and advertising.
“We have a diversified revenue stream,” Albert said. “We get grants, sponsorships, of course we get your [hotel tax] funds. We have donations, memberships, submissions and badge sales. We try really hard to never have one thing be over 25% of the funding for our festival.”
Albert said she appreciates the Lakeway City Council for continuing to support the film festival.
“We’ve had your support since the beginning,” she said. “I feel like you’re part of our fabric.”
The theme for this year’s film festival is #DisruptTheScreen and will be held Sept. 14-17.
