By Gavin Fish
BROOKVILLE, Pa. (EYT) – Jefferson County’s Board of Commissioners voted on a resolution to decertify Pennsylvania Great Outdoors Visitors Bureau (PAGO) as the county’s Tourism Promotion Agency (TPA) during their monthly commissioners meeting on Tuesday morning.
Tuesday’s vote follows a June 13 press release announcing the county’s intentions and a public comment meeting held on June 20.
The resolution now goes to the county’s 34 municipalities for ratification. The Hotel Room Rental Tax Act, the 2016 Act that is responsible for the creation of Pennsylvania’s 50 designated TPAs, states that the resolution must be “concurred in by the governing bodies representing over 65% of the county’s total population” of the county.
Following the commissioners’ vote, Executive Director of Pennsylvania Great Outdoors Visitors Bureau John Straitiff told exploreJeffersonPA.com, “We are very disappointed in today’s vote. The growth in room tax collections since 2014 in Jefferson County, proves that we have done our assigned job well.
“The lodging and tourism-related businesses in Jefferson County have shown us tremendous support during the last several weeks. Unfortunately, they are the ones who truly suffer from this decision. PAGO has always used the hotel tax funds for marketing as directed by Act 18 and has worked to provide the requested information to the commissioners.”
However, the county commissioners explained that it’s not PAGO’s performance, but its lack of transparency and accountability that led to Tuesday’s vote.
“We have for years, prior to even my being here, approached PAGO about getting a better understanding and working cooperatively,” Commissioner Scott North explained prior to the vote.
Commissioner North stated that the most recent action that was taken by the commissioners in regards to PAGO was a resolution in 2019 that established transparency and accountability requirements.
“The county auditors have met with PAGO in the past–years ago–reached understandings, drew conclusions, extended cooperation, came to understandings–and those were ignored on the part of the PAGO leadership,” North continued.
Straitiff states that the commissioners have received the audits in question and that they were prepared in accordance with generally-accepted auditing standards.
“We withheld our funds for PAGO’s lack of compliance to very basic accountability and transparency requirements,” North said.
“We are not alone, though this doesn’t seem to have surfaced. Clarion County and Forest County also had concerns, also withheld their funds.”
Calls to Clarion County and Forest County officials have not been returned.
