OTTAWA — Members of the board that supervises Franklin County Convention and Tourism protested a proposal Monday by county commissioners to take motel tax money and use it to help finance historical society facilities as a budget-cutting measure. The group has made significant cuts to its operations and is planning more budget cuts, said Mark Cation, vice chair of the convention and tourism board. He told commissioners that the loss of the money would limit the ability of the group to attract tourists to Franklin County and would make it more difficult to work in other groups to promote annual events such as the Power of the Past and the Ol’ Marais River Run car show, he said. This year, convention and tourism received $160,000 from the motel tax. The group uses no other tax money. The fund bounces up and down and is based on the number of people who stay in motels and it’s often difficult to predict the numbers, he said.
Tuesday, July 26, 11 a.m.
