“Owensboro” has been dropped from the official name of the Owensboro Daviess County Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB), though the organization largely operates under the name Visit Owensboro. But a more important change for the Visitors Bureau is a new ordinance that would allow Fiscal Court to use revenue from the County’s transient room tax — all of which was previously allocated solely to the CVB — for County projects.
In 2022, the transient room tax raised $820,757. While the County now technically has access to those funds for desired projects, they must still seek permission from CVB officials. That prevents the County from taking any of the revenue without notice.
Fiscal Court Director of Legislative Services David Smith previously said the same language is utilized in an ordinance for Louisville Metro, and there is similar language in ordinances in several other counties.
The transient room tax revenue can only be used by the County for projects specifically designed to generate tourism revenue. Judge-Executive Charlie Castlen said they do not currently have any such plans in mind.
That includes the lack of progress on plans for an amphitheater at Yellow Creek Park, which was mentioned toward the end of the previous Fiscal Court’s tenure.
“I would say the amphitheater has been set aside for the moment,” Castlen said. “I’ve had meetings with the commissioners and I’ve had meetings with several people in the community to discuss it, and it’s a pretty big price tag.”
Another ordinance also puts the CVB in compliance with state standards. It revokes the ability for the City of Owensboro to appoint someone to the board, as the County originally created the board and reserves the right to appoint all its members.
Last year, due to the state requirements, the City created its own tourism commission titled Owensboro Tourist and Convention Commission. It has no real duties but was required due to the City’s own transient room tax revenues.
County Commissioner Chris Castlen made a motion to delay the vote until their next meeting failed. He stated that he thought it would have been beneficial for the Court to discuss the ordinance with the City and CVB before voting.
County Commissioner Larry Conder said that the discussions could continue between Fiscal Court and the City to form some sort of agreement where each party grants the other a seat on their respective tourism boards.
“Let’s see if maybe they are willing to have a county appointment to their board, and then we would do the same thing on ours. That way again, both of us are participating together in making sure that a County representative is on the City’s (version of a CVB), and the City has a representative on the County’s CVB,” Conder said.
Castlen’s motion failed, and the vote to change the appointment process passed 3-1 with Castlen as the lone dissenter.
