As the Harford County government moves to cut ties with Visit Harford, numerous local business owners spoke Tuesday night in support of the organization and urged the County Council to pass legislation to fund the tourism nonprofit.

The public hearing was for a Hotel Occupancy Tax bill introduced in September. The bill aims to set clear instructions to make Visit Harford the primary tourism organization for the county and establish monetary distribution requirements.

Katie Noe, who co-owns and operates the State Theater of Havre de Grace with her husband, said during the hearing that Visit Harford has played a crucial role in the success of that business.

“Visit Harford has supported us since our opening and through the pandemic,” Noe said. “They have expertise across every tourism vertical in the county with an exceptional focus on relationships as a way to expedite activities.”

The State Theater of Havre de Grace is the largest privately owned live entertainment venue in Harford County. Noe said it hosts an average of 100 events that draw roughly 10,000 to 12,000 visitors to Havre de Grace annually.

“In our experience, this in-depth knowledge, coupled with a holistic strategic approach, has made Visit Harford one of the most quantifiably effective agents of driving tourism in the region,” Noe said. “Funding Visit Harford should be one of the easiest and financially sound decisions this council can make.”

The current bill follows a nearly identical bill that the council passed in January that allocates 25% of revenue from the Hotel Occupancy Tax — $645,000 annually — to Visit Harford. Harford County Executive Bob Cassilly vetoed the legislation, but his veto was overridden by the council in a 5-2 vote and the bill became law in April.

In a separately negotiated contract between Visit Harford and the county, the county agreed to pay its annual allocation via three $215,000 installments. After Cassilly’s veto was overridden, he withheld an installment unless the nonprofit signed over its website and branding to the county — essentially making Visit Harford a branch of the county government. Visit Harford refused and Cassilly terminated the contract in April. Visit Harford has yet to be paid the $215,000, which led the group to file a lawsuit against the county in June.

“This administration just wants control,” local hotelier Tim Engle said during the public hearing. “We do not want money our guests pay to be spent by an organization outside of the county that doesn’t understand the county.”

Engle, general manager of Springhill Suites by Marriott, is also a member of Visit Harford’s board of directors.

The proposed legislation — sponsored by Councilman Aaron Penman of District B and co-sponsored by council members Jacob Bennett of District F and Jessica Boyle-Tsottles of District E — aims to maintain the county’s annual funding for Visit Harford by specifying that the payment is only to be made to Visit Harford, and not the “county’s destination marketing organization,” which is what the original bill states.

Cassilly said in a statement that he would veto the new bill should it be passed. He called the legislation “illegal” and said the County Council has no legal authority to divert public funds to a private entity.

“Tourism in most Maryland counties is handled by their respective destination marketing organization, designated as such by the county executive,” Cassilly said in a September statement.

With the county government as the new designated marketing organization, Cassilly has contracted with Columbia-based Mariner Marketing to handle the county’s tourism marketing.

Karen Holt, the county’s director of economic development, said during the hearing that naming the county the destination marketing organization is consistent with what a majority of Maryland jurisdictions do. She explained that the county has reached out to hotels and other tourism-related businesses in the county for “boots on the ground engagement” to get feedback on marketing strategy and that partnering with Mariner Marketing is part of the county’s “comprehensive plan” to promote tourism.

“We have partnered with a professional marketing firm that has successfully worked with Marriott hotels, the State of Maryland and Baltimore County, where they just did a complete rebranding of a neighboring jurisdiction,” Holt said. “This approach provides greater transparency, accountability and inclusiveness in the expenditure of these tax dollars.”

Penman emphasized during the hearing that Visit Harford’s local ties are what make the group crucial to supporting tourism in the county. He said the county should continue funding Visit Harford, not Mariner Marketing.

“The most concerning thing is that Mariner Marketing has no knowledge of local traction and resources,” Penman said during his presentation Tuesday night.

Councilman Dion Guthrie of District A said he does not support the proposed legislation, as he believes it would set a “terrible precedent” for how organizations who feel underfunded should engage with the council.

“It isn’t that I am opposed to the nonprofit, I am opposed to the concept of this bill because you’re opening Pandora’s box,” Guthrie said. “Are we now going to become the county that every time there is an issue where some organization isn’t getting enough money, that they are going to come to us to introduce a bill to fund them?”

Two speakers during the public hearing spoke against the legislation, stating that funneling funds to a private entity is a bad idea and that there aren’t any parameters set for how Visit Harford can use the money.

“Let’s call a spade a spade — this bill is not about the hotel occupancy tax, it is about funneling money to Visit Harford,” Joppatowne resident Jeffrey Beck said. “Everything about this bill, including the circumstances [that] brought us here, does not pass the smell test. I call for a no vote, or a withdrawal of this bill.”

The director of the Maryland Tourism Coalition, Ruth Toomey, criticized the county government and said they “weren’t ready” to fulfill the role of tourism marketing. Toomey stated that since talking to the county about tourism in July,   it has only just hired a manager for the role and created an incomplete tourism website.

“The county thinks they can do a better job with tourism — there are counties who do it and do it well — but here we are, 84 days since my last conversation in July and just today, they hired a person for the role,” Toomey said. “Here we are talking about a hotel tax, and they don’t even have hotels listed on there.”

Toomey explained that the Maryland Tourism Coalition held lengthy conversations about whether to work with the county or Visit Harford and that all 24 board members chose Visit Harford, due to its effective tourism marketing skills and local ties.

According to 2022 data from Tourism and Economics presented by Visit Harford’s board president, Jay Ellenby, Visit Harford supported 6,500 local jobs and generated $479 million in tourism spending, resulting in $61 million in tax revenue for the county.

“I believe our successes are attributed to not only our exceptional capabilities, but also to the fact that we are truly a local organization having known business owners and their families for years,” Ellenby said. “By passing this legislation, you ensure the survival and success of Harford County’s most powerful economic engines.”