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Rhea County chair asks to place hotel-motel fund split resolution on agenda
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Summary
Chairman Reed asked the commission to schedule a resolution to formally split retained hotel-motel receipts into a tourism line and a county commission discretion line, citing the state's 50-mile tourism definition and audit clarity as reasons for the change.
Chairman Reed asked the Rhea County Commission to place a resolution on a future agenda to split retained hotel-motel receipts into two lines — one designated for tourism and one for county commission discretion.
"To be tourism, it has to attract people from 50 miles away," Reed said, arguing that a split would make audits clearer and preserve the intended uses of both funds. Reed requested that staff add a formal resolution to the agenda for the commission to consider.
Reed described the county's current practice as retaining a portion of hotel-motel tax revenues and said the commission should explicitly record the split so auditors and the public can see what portion is reserved for tourism-related expenditures and what portion is used at the commission's discretion. He said the commission's discretion line must still be used for tourism-related activity when appropriate but that separate lines would improve transparency.
Commissioners and presenters asked follow-up questions about typical eligible uses and examples of tourism activities; Reed and other speakers noted examples such as event promotion and parade floats. No formal vote was taken during the meeting; Reed asked that the resolution be placed on a future agenda for formal consideration.
The next step is the staff placement of Reed's proposed resolution on a future agenda so the commission can consider the measure in a subsequent meeting.
