Chamber seeks city aid for Fourth celebration
Published 1:30 am Tuesday, July 28, 2026
The Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce is seeking additional city funding to help preserve Oak Harbor’s annual Fourth of July celebration, citing rising costs and declining tourism revenue.
The chamber wants a two-year contract granting it $50,000 in lodging tax funds annually.
On July 21, council members unanimously voted to refer the chamber’s request to the city’s Lodging Tax Advisory Committee for a 45-day comment period preceding any final action.
The request would be considered alongside $475,000 in other lodging tax funding requests the council referred to the committee earlier this month.
A parade, fireworks display and carnival are just some of the highlights of the festivities, which now sprawl across three days.
Declining lodging tax revenue, however, is making it difficult to continue hosting — and improving — the event. Wendy Horn, the city’s grants administrator, told the council lodging tax allocations to the chamber fell from $65,000 in 2023 to about $52,000 in 2026.
A letter submitted to the council by chamber board president Selene Muldowney-Stratton — read by council member and chamber executive director Eric Marshall in her absence and after his recusal — elaborated on the chamber’s financial situation.
The Fourth of July fireworks display alone cost the chamber $40,000 this year, with lodging tax dollars covering only half that amount. Further, demand for lodging tax funding is on the rise while tourism funding is declining, the letter pointed out. Lodging tax funding has historically covered approximately 50% of the cost of operating the visitor information center; now, it covers less than 35%, it added.
The letter emphasized that the chamber’s request is “not about transferring” but “sharing” the responsibility of hosting what it described as one of Oak Harbor’s “signature” events. It pointed out that many other nearby cities financially support their Fourth of July celebrations.
Limited funding already forced the chamber to cancel its New Year’s Eve fireworks show last year, and later, to stop hosting the event completely.
Receiving the city’s support would allow the chamber to “redirect its limited tourism dollars towards” what they are intended for; that is, “attracting visitors, increasing overnight stays, supporting local businesses and strengthening Oak Harbor’s economy,” the letter read.
Speaking as the chamber’s executive director, Marshall also described other financial challenges. Reduced funding led to the loss of two employees, leaving the visitor information center unreliably staffed. Marshall added that membership revenue also declined after a “substantial cleanup” of the chamber’s books.
