Elgin extends Chamber of Commerce funding for one year amid council concern over visitor services

Elgin City Council on Dec. 16 approved a one-year funding agreement between the city and the Elgin Chamber of Commerce using hotel/motel tax funds, a decision that followed council members' questions about whether the chamber's planned activities and visitor center effectively attract visitors to downtown.

During discussion, Osborne said chamber representatives presented plans for upcoming activities and asked the council to authorize continued funding from the hotel/motel tax fund, which is legally dedicated to promoting tourism and encouraging overnight stays. Some council members, Osborne reported, raised concerns about whether those activities would meet the stated goal of drawing visitors back to downtown.

After extended discussion the council voted to place a one-year contract in effect to give the chamber, which Osborne described as under new leadership, the opportunity to demonstrate its ability to meet tourism goals. Osborne reported that council members Love, Saint Pierre and Kasnovsky voted no; she prefaced those identifications with uncertainty ('I believe'), and the transcript does not include a formal roll-call in the recap.

Osborne said the council's intent was to use the one-year term as a performance period; the funding would continue to be governed by the rules that apply to hotel/motel tax expenditures, including requirements that funds promote the city and encourage visitors to stay in local hotels. The council did not specify dollar amounts in the recap.

Next steps: city staff and the chamber will execute the one-year funding agreement and the council expects the chamber to provide evidence of activities that draw visitors during the funding period. The council's next meeting is Jan. 6, 2026.