The City of Owensboro Tourism and Convention Commission will be the leading agency in overseeing the Transient Room Tax collection. Those funds will go toward major tourism projects within the city, starting with the indoor sports facility.
Tim Ross, Commission Board Chair, said the group does not expect to meet frequently.
“It’s not like we need to manage things on a monthly basis. It’s just a yearly update to see how it’s progressing. Are revenues still continuing to increase, are we covering bond payments, not covering bond payments, how’s the facility coming along and getting ready to open, that type of stuff,” Ross said.
The Commission was formed after the ruling to use the Transient Room Tax (TRT) to help pay for the indoor sports facility in 2022.
The Commission is made up of representatives from hotels, businesses, and city employees, including Andrea Benke, Holiday Inn; Brandon Dukes, Red Swing Coffee; Whitney McFarland, City of Owensboro; Ashtyn Redmon, TownePlace Suites; Tim Ross, City of Owensboro; and Steve Johnson, Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
Ross noted the City does not intend for the commission to replicate the efforts of the Daviess County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau (which calls itself Visit Owensboro). The commission’s bylaws detail that it will strictly handle the TRT taxes collected, while Visit Owensboro will focus on marketing and promotion for the Owensboro-Daviess County.
“By contract, there has to be some financial source [to oversee the funds], but Visit Owensboro is going to continue to provide us with all the marketing and advertising services needed basically to continue to market the city, and this board will not be hiring a person or trying to take any of those responsibilities away from them,” Ross said.
The Commission’s agreement currently calls for 3% of the collected TRT to be allocated specifically toward the design development, construction, maintenance, and facilities associated with the indoor sports facility.
The design phase for the $18 million sports facility was completed in February. Bidding will close on June 25. The architect on the project is working to complete the final details of the construction documents for mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems. The documents for the interior courts, entry area, ticketing, concession, storage, and officials’ areas are all completed. If all is accomplished on schedule, they believe it will be completed by June 2026.
