Nearly all the hotels and motels in Porter County are in the cities and towns, but county leaders appoint almost half of the board that oversees the county’s tourism agency.

Porter County Convention, Recreation and Visitor Commission members Jeff Good and Matt Murphy say that appointment process is unfair and that the municipalities should be given greater authority over the PCCRVC.

Currently, the PCCRVC Board is made up of nine members, with three appointed by the Porter County Commissioners and one appointed by the Porter County Council. The remaining five are appointed by the municipalities, with two from Portage; one from Valparaiso; one jointly appointed by Chesterton, Porter and Burns Harbor; and one jointly appointed by Hebron and Kouts.

A proposal that’s been discussed recently calls for shifting the appointment authority away from the county to the municipalities.

“Why shouldn’t Chesterton have more of a say than the county?” Murphy asked, noting that the funding source for the PCCRVC comes from an innkeepers tax generated by the hotels.

The proposal to change the appointments of the PCCRVC came to light at Tuesday’s Porter County Commissioner meeting, when Commissioner President Robert Harper spoke out against last-minute special legislation. He said he heard that legislation is planned in the current special session of the Indiana Legislature to restructure the PCCRVC, but hasn’t been able to see a written draft.

Both Good and Murphy said the concept is nowhere near as far along as Harper made it sound.

Both said that they have been in discussions with State Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, about possible legislation, but that Soliday wanted to see more broad-based support for the change, particularly from Portage. Good said while Portage Mayor Olga Velazquez has been involved in the talks, she wants more discussion about the idea.

“It’s dead,” Good said about impending possible legislation. “As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing to talk about.”

Good said it was unfair for Harper to use his leadership role and go on a “rant,” since the proposal was nothing more than a concept that now has become “blown out of proportion.”

“To me, it’s a Bob Harper smokescreen,” he said.

Murphy, too, said he’s heard many rumors that are blatantly untrue. He cited one rumor in particular that the proposal is connected to a Lake County takeover of the PCCRVC. He said while he supports partnerships with Lake County tourism when appropriate, he also thinks Porter County should have its own tourism agency.

“I’m not comfortable being taken over,” he said.

Murphy said the fear about a Lake County merger has become a distraction for the PCCRVC. Changing the law that applies to the PCCRVC is one way to ensure that Porter County keeps control, he said. “Whatever we do, I think we need to have something protecting Porter County from Lake County.”

Both Good and Murphy said they have heard from other people representing municipalities and the business community who agree that the county has too much control over the PCCRVC. Murphy said the concern is that municipalities use tax abatements and Tax Increment Financing to attract new hotels, but aren’t seeing a return on their investment from tourism.

Good, who owns a hotel in Valparaiso and in Portage as part of his Good Hospitality Services, said the PCCRVC has been in place for about 20 years and that during that time, there have been no real changes to the enabling legislation.

Instead, he said the PCCRVC has become a mechanism for the county commissioners to run tourism in this county when in reality, the commissioners have little to do with the industry. Good said that as hotelier, he’s more deeply involved in the industry than the commissioners and that he knows that there are ways to improve tourism in this county. But because of the control exerted at the county level, he said the PCCRVC is blocked from functioning as it should. He noted in particular that one of the commissioners’ appointments sat vacant for about four months.

Good added that hotels in Valparaiso contribute 40 percent of the innkeepers’ tax that funds the PCCRVC but that Valparaiso gets very little in return from the agency.

“People who go to the dunes do not go to Valparaiso,” he said.

Posted 6/18/2009