Parke County adopts resolution to route innkeeper tax to tourism expenses and free funds for volunteer fire departments

Parke County commissioners voted to adopt Resolution 2026-03 to direct revenue returned under a memorandum of understanding with the CBC into the county's home-rule fund for tourism-related expenses, freeing general-fund allocations to be used for payments to volunteer fire departments.

The measure, introduced by a county official, specifies that the revenue returned from the CBC under the memorandum (described in the packet as 25% of the total) will be appropriated for tourism expenses that include festival payments to PCI, a fairgrounds payment and overtime for sheriff deputies and EMTs. Commissioners said those uses are unambiguously tourism-related and that reallocating the returned revenue will preserve general-fund capacity to support first responders.

The resolution also codifies the county's existing percentage distribution for state-property revenue-sharing (a three-year rolling average). The presenter read the allocations the commission will use for distribution this year: Bellarmore 19.15%, Bloomingdale 8.82%, Bridgerton 4.31%, Lyford 8.5%, Marshall 15.51%, Mecca 5.71%, Montezuma 8.52%, Rockville 21.98% and Rosedale 7.5%.

Commission discussion touched on related state-level legislation. A commissioner summarized recent attempts to pass a separate gate-fee bill at the statehouse; he said the bill cleared the House but stalled in the Senate committee process because the committee chairman raised concerns about setting a precedent for counties that host large state institutions or arenas. The commissioner said local legislators committed to work over the summer on a compromise that would address the chair's concerns.

Votes at a glance

- Minutes, Feb. 12, 2026: approved (voice vote). - Additional appropriations (presented and amended at the meeting): approved (voice vote). Items discussed included a $500 appropriation/transfer for a long-term app subscription, $84,949 for the second half of the Dale Copper Project, $9,000 for license/plate readers for the sheriff's department, and $8,000 for National Night Out; a $100,000 general-council fund item was amended downward in the discussion and the auditor reported $90,127 in available innkeeper-tax revenue in packet materials. - Resolution 2026-03 (allocation of returned CBC revenue to tourism expenses): adopted (motion made, seconded, "all in favor").

The chair said the county auditor will circulate the distribution letters and implementation details to affected departments and volunteer fire departments. Commissioners noted the resolution is effective for 2026 and can be amended in future years.

Speakers quoted or referenced in this account are those who appeared in the meeting record and include the presenter of the resolution and members who asked procedural questions. The commission recorded no roll-call tally for the resolution in the transcript; the chair announced the measure adopted by voice vote.