Mr. Answer Person corrects his previous answer about Hotel/Motel tax revenues

(In response to a reader's question about the distribution of money raised by Decorah's hotel/motel tax, Mr. Answer Person earlier this week said, "The hotel/motel tax was set up so that half of the money went to Decorah Jobs, a quarter to the Decorah Area Chamber of Commerce and a quarter to other projects."  Here is an updated answer):

While it is technically true that 25 percent of the hotel/motel tax revenue goes to the Decorah Area Chamber of Commerce, that statistic is VERY misleading.  Actually, DACC is paid only a $500 a year administrative fee.  The rest of the money is spent on promoting tourism in the area.

15 percent of the money allocated through DACC is dedicated to funding for special events and other projects to increase area tourism.  85 percent of the money allocated through DACC goes directly to promoting tourism.

There is a Hotel/Motel Marketing Committee that meets four times a year to determine how to spend the tax money.  In the past ten years, almost $89,000 has been distributed to area organizations to support their marketing efforts, including Live on Winnebago, Oneota Film Festival, NE IA Studio Tour, ArtHaus, Seed Savers and Vesterheim.  The committee also paid for the City of Decorah sign at the intersection of Highways 9 & 52 and contributed $75,000 to the Trout Run Trail project.

Again, while the City of Decorah gives 25 percent of the hotel/motel tax revenues to the Decorah Area Chamber of Commerce, this is only a PASS THROUGH!