EDGAR CO. (ECWd) –
To further clarify a previous article I wrote (here), the Edgar County Board collects the Hotel Operators’ Occupational Tax but does not have a policy on the distribution of the Hotel/Motel Tax Fund, and they do not have an application procedure for use of those funds.
The Resolution (below), approved by the Edgar County Board on March 1, 1995, has in place a method for the the collection of the tax, which closely mirrors state law.
Without a policy in place that governs the use (disbursement) of the fund, and without an application process for consideration by the Board, it leaves distribution of the tax funds at the whims of those who happen to be in charge at the time – which means there is no policy.
That is what I found unacceptable with this tax and it is an easy thing to fix – should the Board desire to fix it.
The Hotel Operators’ Occupational Tax Act [65 ILCS 145/] has only one limitation on the fund:
Section 3 (c):
<span style="font-family: Courier New; font-size: small;">(c) No funds received pursuant to this Act shall be used to advertise for or otherwise promote new competition in the hotel business.</span>
Other than this paragraph, the fund is basically unrestricted.
[gview file=”https://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/HOTEL-MOTELPOLICY_201504200905201.pdf”]
3 Comments
rocusa
Posted at 00:23h, 23 AprilRT @ECWDogs: More info on Edgar County’s Hotel/Motel Tax Fund – http://t.co/7t0G6fbRc3
Sick of it all....
Posted at 10:30h, 21 AprilThe Board needs to fix this immediately and come up with a policy for this tax. Again, just giving them more of the taxpayers money to do with as they please. That is just not acceptable, as they’ve proved over and over that they aren’t capable of making informed and smart decisions on behalf of the taxpayers they are elected to represent.
ECWDogs
Posted at 06:20h, 21 AprilMore info on Edgar County’s Hotel/Motel Tax Fund – http://t.co/7t0G6fbRc3