Lodging tax money to be used to upgrade Larson, Lauzier playfields and other projects

MOSES LAKE — Fields in Lauzier Park and some at the Larson Playfields will get upgrades with money generated by the city's lodging tax. Those were at the top of a list of projects recommended by the city's lodging tax committee and approved by the Moses Lake City Council Oct. 27. 

The playfield project received $472,765, and Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Director Doug Coutts said most of the work will be concentrated on improving the fields themselves. 

"The field improvements would be to three fields at Larson Playfields complex and three fields at the Lauzier Athletic Complex and would focus on infield improvements- removal of some of the outfield edge grass as needed, tilling up the infields, leveling and grading the infield and outfield edge, replacing the outfield edge sod grass as needed, and finishing the infield with new dirt," Coutts wrote in response to an email from the Columbia Basin Herald.  

Some of the money will be used to upgrade the press box and replace the sound system at the main Larson playfield, wrote James Richmond, the assistant city manager, in a press release. Bleachers will be added at either Cascade Park or Dano Park.  

Richmond said that the city awarded $1,224,788 to applicants. The city received requests for about $2.3 million. 

"The funding recommendation generally broke down as $566,820.28 in facility and park improvements, $469,425 in support for special events, and $188,543.62 in support of tourism program operations," Richmond said. 

Coutts said the money allocated for parks and facility improvements is an increase over what was allocated for 2026.  

The total cost of the field upgrades will be more than that, Coutts told council members, but city officials added some city money, including about $48,765 from the parks department capital reserves. 

"The capital reserve fund will still have a healthy fund balance at the end of that. But the LTAC committee felt it was very important to improve our sports fields," he said.  

About $80,000 was awarded to the Moses Lake Spring Festival, which is run by a separate organization, and about $40,000 to the Grant County Fair. About $65,000 was awarded to the Moses Lake Roundup and Demo Derby.  The Sand Scorpions were awarded about $65,000 for their Bounty Hole event. 

Smaller awards were given to organizations that presented multiple tournaments and to tournaments put on by youth sports organizations. 

Coutts said the money is generated through taxes levied on hotel, motel and campground rentals, and as such is subject to restrictions on how it can be spent.  

"Revenues are specifically restricted and only be used for tourism marketing and operations of special events designed to attract tourists, Operations and capital expenditures of tourism related facilities owned or operated by a city or public facilities district and operations of tourism related facilities owned or operated by nonprofit organizations," Coutts told council members Oct. 27. "So it's a very narrow lane here that we're in where these funds can be used." 

Council member Victor Lombardi, the LTAC chair, said some of the field upgrades are expensive, but that the goal was to make them better able to stand weather and use. Coutts cited the sound system as an example. 

"It's a professional grade commercial input sound system. One of the bigger things that we wanted to look at with this was a limiter," Coutts said.  

That's designed to handle a common problem that Coutts said he's probably been guilty of himself with previous sound systems he's used.  

"The sound system does not work because it was one of those things that kept getting cranked up and up and up. And when you have an overpowered amplifier going through speakers that can't handle that power, you end up blowing those speakers," he said. "So we are looking at putting a limiter on this. That's part of what costs so much, is the fact that number one, it's commercial. Number two, we're putting limiters and things on there to protect it from ourselves." 

    Daisy the goat tries to decide if she wants a nibble of those balloons at the 2026 Spring Festival parade. The festival was one of the recipients of money from Moses Lake's lodging tax committee.