Lincoln council votes to retain hotel-motel tax funding while members press tourism bureau for records and plan more review

The Lincoln City Council voted April 21 to retain hotel-motel tax revenue for promoting tourism while council members pressed the Logan County Tourism Bureau for clearer financial records and pledged further review.

Molly Pickering, president of the Logan County Tourism Bureau, told the council she was new to the role but wanted to correct what she said were misleading figures circulated earlier showing the bureau operating at a $30,000 deficit. “The numbers from the report are accurate. However, this report was for our annual profit and loss for the calendar year of 2024, while the budget for our fiscal year runs June to June,” Pickering said. She said the bureau “has never operated in the red and passes a balanced budget annually.”

The issue spurred questions from several council members about how tourism funds are spent. Alderman Bateman said events such as Balloons over 66 and Third Fridays have not, in his view, received sufficient promotional support from the bureau. “We spend a lot of money ourselves in promoting this event,” Bateman said of the balloon festival, adding his portion of the event costs more than $15,000 annually.

Council members and staff also discussed a recent audit and contradictory P&L statements. Alderman McClellan and others said an…