The idea to re-invent a tourism board for Clinton County, which would also mean a probable transient fee or tax on lodging establishments, was met with a lukewarm reception at best by several members of the Clinton County Fiscal Court.

Penny Jo Stearns, Administrative Assistant in the county judge-executive’s office, has been working to re-sestablish a tourism board that would primarily work to promote Clinton County and its resources. However, for the board to function financially, a transient fee to sustain the board would be necessary.

Stearns presented the proposal to the fiscal court at its regular meeting last Thursday, April 16, explaining the process of establishing the board and how it could be funded and so forth. She said she was not asking for the court to vote one way or another, but wanted to see how court members felt about the idea.

Stearns noted there is already an ordinance in place that established a tourism board for Clinton County. However, the board never got off the ground as the fiscal court at that time did not approve a transient fee that would have actually funded the work of such a board.

Stearns explained the first step would be to appoint (seven) members, some of which would come from the motel/hotel or lodging industry, and one each from the local chamber of commerce and one each appointed by the city and county.

During the presentation, Magistrate Mickey Riddle told Stearns that people, primarily those in the restaurant business, had been misled by an article about the tourism proposal that appeared in the April 9 edition of the Clinton County News.

Riddle and other magistrates said they have gotten several calls in opposition from restaurants about what they felt would be a tax levied on those establishments.

In that particular article, Stearns articulated the legal ways in which a tourism board could be established, including the possible ways of funding such a board.

Stearns told the court last Thursday, however, that a tourism board could be funded totally with just a transient fee on lodging establishments and there would be no need to ask for a tax on customes of local restaurants. She further estimated that the fee on motel rooms and other lodging places could potentially raise $25 to $35 thousand per year to sustain the board.

Most all counties in Kentucky do have tourism boards in place, including most area counties.

Stearns said the boards are helpful in promotion, advertising and sponsoring local events.

“Without funding, the board would be dead,” Stearns told the court.

When basically questioned whether or not court members would support a tourism board, there was a mix of reactions, with some magistrates not responding either way.

Magistrates Ricky Craig said he would be opposed to a tourism board in general, saying that any revenues raised from a fee on lodging establishments would go to the tourism board and not any to the county.

Other magistrates, including Terry Buster and Patty Guinn, said they would consider being in favor of creating the board if only a transient fee for the hotel/lodging industries were required, but not local restaurants.

Should a board be established, they would have to request the (fiscal) court impose the transient fee as a way to have funding to operate.

County Attorney Michael Rains said the next step in the process would be for the judge/executive to submit a list of names for the proposed board to the court to consider.

No official type votes on the issue were taken at last week’s meeting.