The Danville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau and other tourism offices will get some additional funding under a bill sponsored by Senator Scott Bennett. The measure has been approved in the Senate and now moves to the House for consideration.
The bill would reduce the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunities ability to reserve and use 10-percent of the local tourism funds for administrative costs to 3-percent.
‘’We all know how valuable our local tourism programs are, especially in Illinois’ bicentennial year,’’ said Senator Bennett.
Under current law, the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunities uses 10-percent of the revenue from the Hotel Operators Occupation Tax for the operational costs of local tourism programs. However, due to the state’s backlog of unpaid bills, the Comptroller has not been sending out the full payments, causing local tourism groups to make cuts in their budget.
Senator Bennett says the cuts have harmed tourism groups which have been forced to cancel events, cut advertising, leave positions unfilled and send fewer people out on the road to promote their areas.
