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 early, rushed audit submitted by consultant Scott McCoy flagged a deficit based on a calendar-year profit-and-loss statement rather than the bureau’s fiscal-year budget; McClellan read aloud that the audit report itself warned it was conducted quickly and “may have errors.” Pickering said the board is completing a separate audit and offered to provide updated financial statements to the council.

Pickering gave line-item examples of the bureau’s funding and grants. She said the bureau has secured about $270,000 in state grants since 2023, including an annual Illinois CVB operating grant she described as roughly $40,000 per year. She described other grants the bureau identified in answer to council questions: a $29,000 Route 66 grant in 2023 for thermoplastic signage and two EV chargers, a $25,000 tourism attractions and festivals grant for upgrades at the mill, an Illinois Office of Tourism subgrant of $6,500 used for subgrants to community events, and a $98,000 Route 66 grant slated for installations including “Lincoln” letters and wayfinding signs.

Pickering described how the bureau handles event marketing and printing: some local groups pool funds for hard costs (printing, ad placements) and the bureau provides marketing services and distribution at no additional charge. She said the bureau offers subgrants to community events (“We provide up to 20,000 annually in subgrants,” she said) and that the city’s hotel-motel tax, which she estimated at about $170,000 annually, funds many of the bureau’s activities.

Several council members cited a trip by the mayor to Pontiac, Illinois, as an example of a city-run tourism program they consider more effective. The mayor and Alderman Parrott argued Pontiac’s model — city-run tourism and grants support with coordinated Main Street programs — offers a template Lincoln should consider. “If we change the way we do tourism and change the way we advertise this city, people would start coming, which would then generate small businesses,” Alderman Parrott said.

Council members asked for more documentation. Alderman Parrott and others asked the bureau to provide cancelled checks, receipts and an updated profit-and-loss statement. Pickering said she recently became board president and would provide additional records and meet with council members and staff to clarify outstanding questions. She also said the bureau would pause an advertised search for a full-time director while the council and bureau discuss next steps.

On the council floor, Alderman Ross moved to postpone action; that motion to table the item passed on a separate vote. The council later held a final roll-call vote on the substantive item (item 9E) to retain hotel-motel tax revenue for promoting tourism effective June 1, 2025; the motion passed (yes votes recorded for Alderman Bateman, Alderman Sanders, Alderman McCollum, Alderman O'Donoghue and the mayor; no votes from Alderman Parrott, Alderman Downs, Alderman Ross and Alderman Anderson).

The bureau and city face a near-term calendar of follow-ups: the Logan County Tourism Bureau scheduled a meeting for April 24 and Pickering invited council members to review updated financial documents. Council members flagged the Route 66 Centennial next year as a high-priority deadline if Lincoln chooses to restructure or replace the current bureau arrangements.

Pickering closed by urging collaboration: “Whatever is decided here tonight, we believe a strong partnership with the city — with transparency, trust, and communication — is the only way to achieve our common goal of doing what is best for this community,” she said.

The council did not adopt policy language changing the bureau’s legal status; instead it retained the use of hotel-motel tax revenue for tourism promotion and directed further review and information-sharing between the bureau and the council.