BROOKVILLE, Pa. (EYT) – Jefferson County Commissioners took the first step in decertifying Pennsylvania Great Outdoors Visitors Bureau (PAGO) as the county’s designated Tourist Promotion Agency (TPA).
Commissioners voted unanimously to decertify the tourism agency in a meeting at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, June 13.
The decision to decertify PAGO appears to have come as a result of a contentious disagreement regarding the allocation of Hotel Tax funds. PAGO claims a request made by the commissioners that prompted the dispute would have required the agency to violate state law.
The dispute arose when Jefferson County Commissioners requested PAGO to release $100,000.00 from the county’s share of Hotel Tax receipts to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club without a formal grant application. In response, PAGO says the agency informed the commissioners that grants require a completed application and a 25% matching contribution which is mandated by the law.
Photo: January 17 letter from Commissioners to PAGO requesting money for The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club.
Following this exchange, the commissioners withheld their fourth-quarter Hotel Tax funds until an audit was conducted, according to PAGO’s Executive Director John A. Straitiff.
Straitiff says that the requested audits have been submitted to the commissioners, but that Hotel Tax funds from the fourth quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023 have remained withheld.
“The request to release grant funds without a grant application was asking us to break the law,” explained Straitiff. “When they got the letter from our attorney explaining that there needed to be a 25% match and a completed grant application, that’s when the fighting started.”
A call to the Jefferson County Commissioners Office for comment was forwarded by a staff member to Commissioner Scott North’s voicemail. The call was not returned prior to print.
In a press release dated June 13 which was released just prior to a scheduled Jefferson County Commissioners meeting, the commissioners say that in light of a recent study conducted by HRG on their behalf, they believe there are untapped opportunities for economic growth through tourism.
This is the reason for the decertification process to begin, the press release noted.
According to the press release, the decertification process began with a vote on June 13 to initiate the action and will be followed by a hearing on decertification scheduled for June 20 at 11:00 a.m. at Jefferson Place, 155 Main Street, in Brookville.
The process will conclude with a decertification vote during the commissioners’ meeting on Tuesday, June 27, at the same location.
The commissioners have expressed their willingness to collaborate with PAGO–as well as other promotional agencies such as PA Wilds and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources–to ensure the county’s tourism endeavors are successful in the future.
In Pennsylvania, TPAs are responsible for serving the traveling public at the local level, promoting unique tourism assets, and producing marketing materials and visitor guides. There are 50 such agencies in the Commonwealth.
PAGO, a membership-based TPA, operates as the designated agency in Clarion, Cameron, Elk, Forest, and Jefferson Counties.
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