Tourism commissioners urge Spencer Fiscal Court for appointments and paid director as volunteer ranks thin

Members of the Taylorsville–Spencer County Recreation, Tourism & Convention Commission told the Fiscal Court on Nov. 20 they are short-handed, underfunded and in danger of losing institutional knowledge.

Commissioner Andrianna Marshall, who said the commission currently has five members and expects two resignations at the end of the year, asked the court and the city to fill seats so the commission meets the seven-member composition required by state law (KRS 91A.350(2)). Marshall said volunteers have assumed bookkeeping, grant work and leadership duties and that the commission lacks capacity to pursue multi-day events or complicated grants without paid staff.

“Spencer County continues to be the only commission in Kentucky that runs on volunteers and has no paid Executive Director or staff,” Marshall said, asking the court to work with the city to appoint active commissioners and consider a funding model that would support a paid director.

Commission members described revenue and expense snapshots in the packet: transient-room-tax receipts, a $35,000 Kentucky Tourism grant that could not be used for proposed multi-day events, and trustee reimbursements that previously helped cover commissions costs. Commissioners said the commission received $10,000 from fiscal court in 2022 and sporadic city support; they argued predictable funding or a shared paid position would increase capacity for marketing and events.

The court appointed Steve Conte to the Tourism Commission (pending city approval) and asked county and city officials to discuss appointments and long-term staffing. Judge Scott Travis and magistrates discussed keeping the county employee line of duty separate from volunteer governance and said future hires in county economic development will report to the county rather than the commission.