Misunderstandings were hashed out Monday between Kosciusko County's Commission on the Convention & Visitors Bureau and the CVB itself, county councilman Larry Teghtmeyer told the county council Thursday.

"We had very good dialogue," he said.

Teghtmeyer is one of the three county councilmen who attended the meeting Monday.

During the discussion, both sides aired their frustrations with the other side and explained their points of view. Teghtmeyer said a decision was reached that the CVB's budget each year would come from the commission, not the CVB itself or its board of directors. The commission may fund not-for-profit entities that promote tourism in the county, Teghtmeyer said, one of which is the CVB.

Another decision reached at the Monday meeting, he said, was that it was too soon from Monday to Thursday for a budget for the year to be prepared for county council's approval. A budget for council approval should be ready by the council's April 16 meeting.

To help keep the CVB afloat until its budget is approved, Teghtmeyer recommended the council approve the appropriation of one-fourth of the CVB's anticipated $290,000 budget, an estimated $72,500.

"Basically," said council president Harold Jones, "it's their quarterly distribution."

However, the CVB funds come from the innkeepers' tax, which comes into the county at small increments, and the fund had only $57,655.19 in it as of Thursday. The council approved that amount for the CVB.

In another matter, Kosciusko County Auditor Sue Ann Mitchell said the county council traditionally has signed a resolution that the Kosciusko County Solid Waste Management District will not get a share of the County Option Income Tax. But now, she said, the district is at a point where it needs to increase its tax rate, which is currently at $0.0035, to keep afloat.

"They have no choice," she said.

One problem with the district's funding, she said, is that for them to increase their tax rate, every city and town and the county have to approve an increase in the tax rate. If one town votes against it, the tax rate cannot be increased.

"Every town has got to agree (the district) can increase the dollars they are collecting," Mitchell said.

A meeting is tentatively scheduled for March 27 in the county courthouse for the district to present its situation to every town and city in the county.

"Quite frankly," said Mitchell, "it's a no-win situation for them."

If the towns vote against increasing the district's tax rate, some money could come from the county's share of COIT, with a maximum the district could get being $30,000. That wouldn't have to be approved until June 1.

Jones said the county council probably should not decide on whether or not to give the district a share of the COIT money until after the March 27 meeting, to see what the cities and towns in the county want to do about the district.

Ron Truex, middle district county commissioner, said the next few weeks will be interesting to see where the towns in the county think the district should be headed. If they don't approve the tax increase, the district will have to shrink its services. However, an increase would give the district "several more years before they would have to do anything else," he said. [[In-content Ad]]