Commissioners debate using occupancy-tax revenue to hire outside tourism firm; RFQ discussion postponed

Sullivan County commissioners spent the bulk of their Sept. 18 work session debating a proposed resolution that would authorize the county purchasing agent to advertise a request for qualifications for tourism promotion and development services funded from the county’s occupancy-tax revenues.

The proposal, introduced by Commissioner Vanover, would use the county’s occupancy-tax receipts — which Vanover said have totaled “more than $1,600,000” since collection began in 2023 — to contract for tourism marketing and promotion rather than hire a permanent county tourism director. The resolution (referencing prior commission action, resolution 2024-11-08) would seek firms for an initial one-year contract and require contracted firms to report to the full Board of Commissioners at least once every three months.

The discussion underscored two central tensions: how to avoid duplicating services provided by the regional tourism body (referred to in the meeting as NEDA) and how much discretion county staff should have…