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Elkhart County CVB seeks higher 2026 innkeeper tax budget amid questions about carryovers and overhead
Summary
The Elkhart County Convention & Visitors Bureau asked commissioners to raise its 2026 innkeeper-tax budget from $2.6 million to $2.9 million and outlined how CVB dollars paid for recent large events. Commissioners pressed CVB leaders about staffing, overhead and where unspent tax receipts are held.
John Hunsberger, executive director of the Elkhart County Convention & Visitors Bureau, asked the Elkhart County Board of Commissioners on Sept. 11 to raise the bureau’s 2026 innkeeper-tax budget from $2.6 million to $2.9 million to align spending with collections.
Hunsberger told the commissioners the CVB’s total budget is about $3.1 million and that the $2.6 million figure is the direct distribution from the innkeeper tax. “We’re only trying to align our budget with what is collected,” he said, describing a multi‑year pattern of collections rising faster than the amount officials were allowed to budget.
The bureau presented specific uses for innkeeper‑tax dollars, emphasizing marketing and events. Hunsberger said the CVB contributed $150,000 toward a downtown “Celebration Under the Stars” concert that drew an estimated…
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