Iowa Administrative Code
Agency 261 - Economic Development Authority
Part III - Community Development Division
Chapter 38 - Regional Sports Authority Districts
Rule 261-38.4 - Application Scoring and Certification of Districts

Universal Citation: IA Admin Code 261-38.4

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 6, September 18, 2024

(1) Scoring criteria. The authority will not review or score an application unless it meets the requirements and deadlines of rule 261-38.3(15E). An application that meets the requirements and deadlines of rule 261-38.3(15E) will be given a numerical score between 0 and 100. The higher an application's numerical score, the more likely it will receive funding under the program. The criteria used to score the applications and the maximum number of points that may be attributed to each criterion are as follows:

a. Economic impact: 30 points. The authority will consider the amount of economic impact represented by the proposed nonprofessional sporting events and will view favorably events that have a greater economic impact. Economic impact will be determined by using the following calculation: Applicants will estimate the number of hotel room nights generated by each proposed nonprofessional sporting event and multiply the number of estimated hotel room nights by the average daily room rate for Iowa hotels. The average daily room rate will be provided by the Iowa tourism office based on information obtained from a hotel market data service. Intentionally inflated estimates of attendance or a history of providing inaccurate estimates will negatively affect the scoring of an application and may result in noncertification of a district.

b. Leveraged funds ratio: 20 points. The authority will consider the proportion of state funds to total funds in the application and will view favorably a greater rate of financial participation from entities other than the state of Iowa.

c. Novelty and quality: 20 points. The authority will consider the novelty and quality of an event and will view favorably nonprofessional sporting events that are new to Iowa or that have been recently improved, enhanced, or enlarged.

d. Event size and scope: 15 points. The authority will consider the size of an event and will view favorably a project with a larger total budget.

e. Need: 10 points. The authority will consider the financial need of an applicant and will recognize the importance of funding events that would not take place without assistance under the program. The authority will also recognize the importance of funding nonprofessional sporting events that have never before been funded under the program or under another state program.

f. Geographic diversity: 5 points. The authority will consider the geographic diversity represented by the pool of applicants.

(2) Certification process. The authority will certify not more than ten districts each fiscal year in which funding is available for the program. The director of the authority will establish a regional sports authority district review committee within the authority consisting of authority staff. The committee will score all completed applications according to the criteria described in subrule 38.4(1). The authority may certify fewer than ten districts in a fiscal year if fewer than ten completed applications are timely received or if fewer than ten completed applications meet the minimum threshold for certification. The minimum threshold for certification is the accumulation of 50 or more points out of 100 total points on the scoring criteria described in subrule 38.4(1). If, after all of the completed applications have been initially scored, fewer than ten districts would be certified, the authority may allow one or more additional rounds of applications to be submitted and scored. For each additional round of applications, the authority will follow the same eligibility requirements and use the same scoring criteria as used in earlier rounds. The authority may accept as many rounds of applications for certification as it deems appropriate. After the conclusion of all application rounds, the authority will award grant funds to each of the certified districts in equal amounts.

(3) Reallocation of award amounts. If a certified district fails to hold a nonprofessional sporting event described in the application, then that district may reallocate the proposed expenses allocated for that event to another event provided such other event is also included on the application. If there are no other events included on the application to which the proposed expenses may be allocated, then the district shall forfeit the amount of proposed expenses and the authority may award that amount to other applicants or districts. The authority may rescore the application of any applicant seeking to reallocate award amounts, and if the failure to hold a nonprofessional sporting event as described in the initially scored application would cause a material change in the application's overall quality in relation to other applications, the authority may allow an additional round of applications as described in subrule 38.4(2). No applicant may reallocate award amounts, even after a rescoring, without executing a contract amendment as described in rule 261-38.5(15E).

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