Corbin tourism commission revenue is 10th in the state

A data bulletin released last Thursday by the Auditor of Public Accounts, Mike Harmon, revealed the impact tourism has on Kentucky. In 2018 visitors are reported to have spent $7.6 billion in our state. In that report it listed the ten tourism commissions reporting the highest total revenue for FY 2019.

Don Estep is publisher of the News Journal.

The Corbin Tourism and Convention Commission was tenth with a total income of $1,440,913. This includes the motel and restaurant taxes collected. Out of the 116 tourism commissions in the state only 19 percent of them have a restaurant tax. Locally, London, Barbourville, and Williamsburg join Corbin by having that tax.

Imagine the number of projects a tourism commission could undertake with that kind of money coming in yearly. The problem with Corbin’s income is that 75 percent goes to paying off the indebtness of the Corbin Arena. That debt should be paid off by 2029.

Of course, hindsight is 20/20. As I look back I may not have had the same opinion as I had then when I was Chariman of the Tourism Commission and the city of Corbin was needing a restaurant tax in to have enough revenue to build The Arena.

A feasibility study had everbody, with exception of one person who sent me numerous emails, convinced that an arena was a remedy to a tourism income. The state of Kentucky had dangled $12 million in front of the city and the study indicated that numerous motels, restaurants and other tourism dollars would flow to our town. Unfortunately that hasn’t happened to the degree that was written in the study.

That one person who sent me the emails constantly advised me to fight against taking tax money to build an arena. However, every indicator told us that it should be done. Our tourism commission heeded that advice and I wrote a letter to Mayor Amos Miller that the commission had agreed to allot 75 percent of a restaurant tax to the arena project if the city commission approved the tax.

What was not seen at that time were the cost overruns and the difficulities of paying the bills. Corbin was not alone. Similar arenas were being built in cities across the nation, including one in Pikeville. They had the same hopes and promises of big incomes from an arena draw that we were told in the study we would have.

Nobody locally is at fault for making any bad decisions. Based on the knowledge everybody had at that time, it was the right decision.

Don’t get me wrong, I like having The Arena. I have enjoyed many events there. And finally, excluding the pandemic months, the activities there have improved greatly. It is unique to Corbin and a great asset.

Had there been graduations at area schools, The Arena is an excellent place for them. It’s great for other local events like the May Day Festival and high school basketball tournaments. Big name concerts have filled The Arena. Again, it’s a good thing to have.

But looking back, those who voted to build The Arena did not see the difficulties that would come. Tourism had no idea that it would tie up their budget for decades.

On the bright side for Corbin, most of the tax on restauants and motels is being paid by people not living in the city. But for tourism having that huge income now to spend on other projects would be nice.