Big lead: Lowell's Karina James leads all of her competitors during the IHSAA girls state cross country race on Oct. 30, 2021 at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute. Tourism and revenues are up as sporting events and festivals among other events are attracting lots of people to the Terre Haute area this year. Staff photo by
JOSEPH C. GARZA
With the Nike Cross Regional Midwest Championships slated for Sunday, expecting to attract 2,500 runners and 4,000 spectators, only rain could dampen the final cross country event of this season, said David Patterson, executive director of the Terre Haute Convention and Visitors Bureau.
In fact, while October brought several running events including a high school cross country championship, rain has been hammering the grass running course at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course on Terre Haute's east side.
"This has been the worse weather year we have ever had," Patterson told board members of the Terre Haute Convention and Visitors Bureau on Tuesday.
"This is our last cross country event of the year, but if it rains on Sunday, we have to put field dry [calcined clay products that improve drainage, reduce compaction and manage moisture] on the corners and that kills the grass. We will come back on Monday and get that off of the course, but we will have to strip some of that area of dirt and sod and then reseed, but that will be back in the spring. It is just maddening as we have done this four times this year," Patterson said.
However, events such as a high school cross country championship last month have brought praises from coaches as the course was maintained during wet events, Patterson said.
Tourism and revenues are up as sporting events and festivals such as the German Oberlandler Club's Oktoberfest and the Cory Apple Festival along with collegiate homecomings attract people, Patterson told the board.
"We had a good fall and we are above last year's pace by about $600,000. We lost almost $900,000 in 2020, compared to 2019, so we have about 60% of that back, and if we have a good November, we will be about 20% off" of a pre-pandemic year pace, "which is pretty good," Patterson said.
The CVB collected more than $4.09 million as of Oct. 31 from the innkeepers tax, compared with more than $3.17 million at the same time last year.
In 2019, Indiana began collecting sales tax on short-term rentals such as Airbnb or privately owned bread and breakfast homes that rent out more than 15 calendar days a year. State law also stipulates that applicable innkeepers tax applies in addition to sales tax for the 79 Indiana counties that collect an innkeepers tax.
Patterson told the board there are "apparently 80 some BNBs [bread and breakfasts] in Vigo County and there is no set standard on a licensing procedure or anything in the city or county," he said. Patterson said he thinks the CVB should work with county and city officials to create a licensing procedure or resolution in order to better document what's out there. "I am fairly certain we are probably only collecting 10% of what is out there," he said.
Patterson told the board about a person who "bragged about his buddy that had bought six properties on French Lake [located north of Blackhawk] solely for the purpose of BNBs in preparation for the [new Vigo County] casino to open. It is a statewide problem," he told the board of collecting required taxes from BNBs.
In other business, the board approved a 2022 budget at $1,563,000. The budget's biggest increase is in salaries, as the CVB matches salary increases set by Vigo County, which gave employees a 4% wage increase in 2020. As executive director, Patterson would receive a $3,800 increase, with a 2022 salary of $101,331.
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