By VICKI URBANIK

The Porter County Commissioners made it clear Tuesday that they want Lake County tourism officials to keep their hands off their counterpart agency in Porter County.

The commissioners passed a resolution expressing opposition to any attempt to merge the Lake and Porter county tourism offices. Similar resolutions have been passed by the Porter County Convention, Recreation and Visitors Commission and the Chesterton/Duneland Chamber of Commerce.

The resolution states in part that the goals of the two tourism agencies are not the same and that if the two departments were merged, “simply by the fact that Lake County has such a larger base it would soon engulf the Porter County Convention, Recreation and Visitors Commission which would then lose its voice in the future.”

The resolution also raises a concern about a possible new regional tax, “which not only might increase the amount citizens in Porter County were paying, but would also go into an agency where they had less say.”

The possibility of a merger was prompted by a letter that the head of the Lake County tourism bureau, Speros Batistatos, sent to Gov. Mitch Daniels in support of consolidation. Batistatos has also spoken in support of passing a food and beverage tax in Lake County in order to fund a major new convention center.

Lake County CVB Public & Community Relations Manager Erica Scheeringa said, however, that despite the fears expressed in Porter County, her agency is not seeking legislation in the upcoming session of the Indiana General Assembly for a merger.

At Tuesday’s commissioner meeting, PCCRVC Executive Director Lorelei Weimer told the commissioners that her agency is very much interested in regionalism, as shown by Porter County’s involvement in the Northern Indiana Tourism Development Commission. The NITDC works together to accomplish things that the tourism bureaus cannot do on their own, even though each county maintains its individuality and own approach to marketing their destinations.

She noted that Elkhart and St. Joseph counties are located next to each other, but both are very different counties and take much different approaches to tourism. The same could be said of Lake and Porter counties.

“We are side by side. But our destinations are different,” she said.

Weimer also noted that the Porter County innkeepers tax is paid for only in Porter County, and that the issue is one of local control. “We know what’s best for our county,” she said.

North Porter County Commissioner John Evans said he’s talked with PCCRVC board members who agree that keeping the PCCRVC as is would be the proper thing to do.

“We do want to be independent in our thinking. We are unique. There’s nobody like us,” he said.

Similarly, South Porter County Commissioner Carole Knoblock said she would be concerned if the two counties merged their tourism bureaus and a new regional tax were pursued.

County Commissioner President Robert Harper said Porter County is a much better run county than many others, as evidenced by the amount of tax money the county government operates on when compared with others.

“To have other counties try to grab us up really irks me,” he said.

Harper also noted that this isn’t the first time that a possible merger of the tourism departments in Northwest Indiana has been discussed.

“To me, it seems like a power grab,” he said.

The commissioners agreed to send their resolution to Porter County’s state legislators.

Hospital Money Funds

Also Tuesday, the commissioners gave second and final reading approval to three ordinances establishing specific funds for the proceeds from the sale of the former county hospital.

The ordinances, first approved at the last meeting, outline how the hospital proceeds must be handled. One of the ordinances stipulates that it would take a unanimous vote among all Porter County Council members and the commissioners if ever the county tried to spend the principal other than paying out trailing liabilities and the $500,000 annual ambulance subsidy.

The ordinances take effect Jan. 1.

The commissioners and the council still need to decide how they will spend the interest earned, estimated at $6 million annually. No decision is expected to be made until sometime after the new year.

Posted 12/19/2007