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Board approves transit-occupancy tax funding for arts and history events, asks for MOU on revenue sharing
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Summary
Louisa County authorized tourism-advisory recommendations to use TOT funds for the Louisa Arts Center ($60,000), Louisa County Historical Society ($14,160) and an $11,000 contingency for a concert with a proposed revenue-sharing MOU for ticket sales above 350.
The Louisa County Board of Supervisors voted April 27 to authorize tourism advisory committee recommendations to allocate transit-occupancy tax (TOT) funds to tourism-related projects and events. Staff presented the committee’s recommendation to fund the Louisa Arts Center ($60,000) and the Louisa County Historical Society ($14,160) for FY27 and to provide up to $11,000 for a Queen Legacy concert contingent upon a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that would establish a revenue-sharing mechanism for ticket sales above 350.
The tourism presenter (speaker 14) explained the TOT is a lodging tax paid by visitors and that roughly 40% of TOT revenues must be used for tourism-related purposes under state law. The presenter said, “So that portion of using the 60,000 for Louisa Arts Center and the 14,000 for the Louisa Historical Society, we've now freed up that money in general funds so that can be used for essential services.”
Supervisor (speaker 3) asked whether the $11,000 revenue-share structure would actually incentivize additional ticket sales, saying, “So I have a question… it doesn't really incentivize them to sell more tickets.” The presenter replied that the $11,000 is a breakeven operational contribution and that revenue sharing above 350 tickets would provide an incentive beyond covering basic costs.
The board discussed the practical costs of events held at county fairgrounds and the potential need for additional facilities or services as attendance grows. After discussion, the board approved the tourism-advisory recommendations by unanimous voice vote and asked staff to work on an MOU to define the revenue-sharing terms for the concert funding.
The county administrator and tourism staff will finalize the funding agreements and the proposed MOU and return any required documents to the board for final signatures.
