There’s an amendment in the proposed Ohio state budget that would strip away a big chunk of funding many convention and visitors bureaus now receive.
The suggested amendment would require smaller counties that collect more than $500,000 in lodging tax to redirect two-thirds of those funds to support other needs affected by that tourism. That would leave a third of the dollars for that county's convention and visitors bureau.
Tourism bureau leaders say that wouldn’t leave enough money for them to maintain their current efforts to attract visitors.
Hocking Hills is a popular attraction in Southeast Ohio. Boone Troyer, executive director of the Athens County Convention and Visitors Bureau, said he and his staff have worked hard to bring in tourism dollars through the lodging tax. If this budget amendment is allowed to take affect, he says, his bureau would face drastic changes.
“I would have to immediately get out of my lease for a building that I quite literally moved into last week. I would have to lay off all three employees. I would most likely have to work from home,” Troyer said.
Cedar Point is a major attraction in Northern Ohio. Vice President of Community Relations Lee Alexakos testified against the amendment.
“By allowing the counties to redirect lodging tax dollars without clear collaboration and transparency, it destabilizes the very structure that has fueled tourism growth,” Alexakos said.
Why County Commissioners want the change
The County Commissioners Association of Ohio supports the amendment.
Erie County Commissioner Matt Old testified on behalf of the provision earlier this month. He said there are currently 11 counties in Ohio like his — which is home to Cedar Point — that have populations of less than 100,000 but collect lodging taxes in excess of $500,000.
Old explained the amendment would allow two-thirds of the proceeds from the lodging tax to be spent on public safety, economic development, and public infrastructure needs that taxpayers are now supporting with other funds.
“Our taxpayers are asked to spend millions of dollars to fund infrastructure projects through roads, [and it's] tourists driving down our roads and utilizing our water and sewer infrastructure,” Old said.
Old said this amendment would also allow lodging money to help fund the county jail. He says attractions like Cedar Point attract a lot of visitors and sometimes they make poor decisions and wind up in jail. More than 30% of the people who were housed at the Erie County Jail last year weren't county residents, he added.
He noted cities, villages, and townships can levy lodging taxes, but unlike counties, they get to decide how those dollars are spent. Meanwhile counties are restricted to spending those lodging tax dollars solely on tourism.
There's another reason for this amendment.
It "places the decision-making authority in the hands of elected officials rather than an unelected body," Old said.
He argued elected officials, who are charged with determining how to run the county and are accountable to the public, should have access to those dollars to meet important public needs.
