Explore Altoona, which has been Blair County’s official marketing organization for more than 60 years, will soon be dissolved. Blair County commissioners voted Thursday to decertify the non-profit.
Dave Kessling and Amy Webster voted yes, while Laura Burke abstained from the vote because of a conflict of interest.
Kessling, who chairs the board, said Explore Altoona was unwilling to align with the commissioners’ goals, one of which is to create more trails and outdoor recreation.
“In part it is about trails, but it's about a bigger vision of this county and where that money can be used and leveraged to help this county," Kessling said.
Mark Ickes, the executive director of Explore Altoona, defended the agency in a public hearing last week in advance of the decertification vote. He said using hotel tax to build trails is not best-practice for using marketing funds.
“According to the intention of the law, those funds are to be used to put ‘heads in beds,’ to promote the destination…not to build it," Ickes said.
Ickes also said his agency was willing to work with commissioners to find other funding sources and to promote Blair County’s vision for outdoor recreation.
At Thursday's meeting, commissioners also approved an ordinance to create the Blair County Trail, Park, and Recreation Authority. When asked if bed taxes could be redirected to that authority, Kessling said they were looking into it, but state law is specific on what bed taxes can be used for.
Kessling said they will soon start the process to certify a new marketing organization. Until then, revenue from the county’s bed tax will go into a bank account set up by Blair County Commissioners.
The vote to decertify comes after a long process to gather support from Blair County's municipalities. Eighteen out of 25 municipalities opted out of voting, but the remaining municipalities, which make up the majority of the county's population, did vote to decertify Explore Altoona.
