The appointed, volunteer board met last week to finalize their recommendations for how to disperse funds raised by a 3% tax on room, campsite and cottage rentals. (It is worth taking the ferry ride to Ocracoke. We charge 2% less per night than neighbors Dare and Carteret County. You do the math.)

Board Chair Wayne Clark said the decisions to cut requests are difficult, and that the five member panel takes "spending other people's money very seriously."

Most requests were fully covered, said board member Frank Brown. As a former officer with both Ocracoke Preservation Society and Ocracoke Civic and Business Association, Brown has experience in making requests from the fund.

"It was a deliberate, thoughtful process," said Brown. "I encourage anybody who would like to serve on that board to serve on it," he said, praising the "amazing time and effort" local people put into running the many non-profits that serve Ocracoke.

The OCBA request of $84,500 was trimmed to $29,000. This is the second year the OTB has not supported OCBA's plans to improve the public restroom facilities in the village.

The board opted not to recommend $20,000 for capital improvements to the Community Center.

Ocracoke Child Care's plans to host a water park over July 4 will be put on hold if Commissioners follow the OTB's proposal. Over $14,000 was trimmed from their request.

$7500 was cut from the Hyde Chamber of Commerce's request.

In two decades of dispersing Occupancy Tax funds, Hyde Commissioners have only once not approved the recommendations of the Board.

Summary List of Ocracoke Occupancy Tax Board Recommended Appropriations for FY 2013-2014:

Ocracoke Health Clinic

The Board recommends that Hyde County fund the total requested amount of $140,000.

Ocracoke Civic and Business Association

The Board recommends that Hyde County fund $29,000 to include $8,000 for the 4th of July event, $11,000 for Tourism, and $10,000 a part-time Travel & Tourism Director.

Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department

The Board recommends that Hyde County fund the total requested amount of $80,000.

Ocracoke Youth Center

The Board recommends that Hyde County fund the total requested amount of $54,000.

Ocracoke Community Center

The Board recommends that Hyde County fund $17,250 for the operating budget.

Ocracoke Child Care

The Board recommends that Hyde County fund $3,250 for floors and rug cleaning. 

Ocracoke Seafood/Ocracoke Working Watermen’s Association (OWWA)

The Board recommends that Hyde County fund the total requested amount of $10,000.

Hyde County Chamber of Commerce

The Board recommends that Hyde County fund $2,500 for operating budget. 

The Outer Banks Scenic Byway Committee

The Board recommends that Hyde County fund the total requested amount of $6,625. 

Ocracoke Alive

The Board recommends that Hyde County fund the total requested amount of $4,500. 

Blackbeard Pirate Jamboree

The Board recommends that Hyde County fund the total requested amount of $2,520. 

British Cemetery Committee

The Board recommends that Hyde County fund the total requested amount of $2,100. 

Ocracoke Preservation Society

The Board recommends that Hyde County fund the total requested amount of $1,500.

Ocracoke Friends of the Library

The Board recommends that Hyde County fund the total requested amount of $1,200.