Council tables visitor bureau funding questions after members press agency about $647,500 cash on hand

The Johnson County Council voted to table a Visitor Bureau (CBT) funding request until the council’s next meeting after members said they needed more information on how the bureau is spending and holding reserve funds.

At the April 14 meeting, Ken Koski, director of the Johnson County CBT Board, told the council the bureau’s visitor center visits doubled in 2024, hotel revenue rose 7.25% and the agency secured roughly $333,000 in free media and matching co-op advertising from Visit Indiana. Koski also said the bureau recently received an economic impact study showing tourism growth in the county since the agency’s creation in 2013.

Council members pressed Koski on finances after reviewing a profit-and-loss statement. Council member Michelle Grissmer asked why grants totaled about $19,500 while the bureau reported what she described as a six-figure administrative expense variance by quarter. Koski said the quarter-to-quarter differences reflected advertising timing and that a $70,000 co-op payment to Visit Indiana had not been included in the quarter snapshot he brought to the meeting.

Grissmer also told the bureau that as of March 2025 the CBT had approximately $360,000 in a checking account and about $287,000 in certificates of deposit, for a combined cash position she and Koski described in the meeting as roughly $647,541.96. Grissmer said the council needed to understand the bureau’s intentions for that cash and how much of it the council could expect to be appropriated in upcoming quarters.

Koski told the council some of the funds are being held to match potential projects in multiple towns, including proposed outdoor plaza and festival spaces in Edinburgh and Trafalgar and a potential permanent cooled-ice rink in Greenwood. He said the bureau’s trade association, Destinations International, recommends keeping six to 12 months of operating expenses on hand.

Council member Michelle Grissmer moved to table Koski’s appropriation request to the next meeting and to meet with Koski beforehand to review the documents; the motion carried with six votes in favor and one vote against. Council member Dittmers voted no. Koski said he would follow up by email and bring additional documentation to the next meeting.

The council did not adopt any appropriation or change county budgets at the meeting; instead members asked for follow-up detail on quarterly accounting, definitions of “administrative” versus “advertising” costs and proposed uses of CBT funds for tourism projects.

Koski said the bureau has four full-time staff and that the organization benchmarks itself against similarly sized counties; he told the council the bureau’s staffing was below the peer average, which was one reason outreach and matching advertising had been prioritized.

The bureau’s presentation also noted a planned $25,000 grant to Johnson County Parks for a winter festival and a temporary synthetic rink trial. Koski said if the trial is successful, the park could seek further funding to make a skating amenity permanent.