HOLLIDAYSBURG — Blair County commissioners Dave Kessling and Amy Webster followed through Thursday with an anticipated vote to decertify Explore Altoona as the county’s tourism promotion agency, an action that will end its allocation of county bed tax revenue and likely lead to the agency’s closure.

Kessling also spoke Thursday of additional changes that could affect future bed tax allocations to be considered and discussed as commissioners take steps to certify a new tourism promotion agency.

The pending changes — which should identify how much bed tax money goes to the new TPA — may affect current bed tax allocations to the Blair County Convention Center for marketing and to Peoples Natural Gas Field, formerly known as Blair County Ballpark, for capital improvements.

Kessling said Thursday that the ballpark’s allocation of bed tax revenue would remain intact through 2026 because it’s tied to a 10-year loan scheduled to be paid off in 2026.

The county, for the 2023-24 fiscal year ending Oct. 31, took in $1.36 million in bed tax revenue and allocated it as follows: Explore Altoona, $764,143; Blair County Convention Center, $243,952; Blair County Ballpark, $216,846; and Blair County, $140,247.

That division was based on a 2016 agreement spearheaded by commissioners at that time who voted to divide the county’s bed tax revenue and earmarked percentages for Explore Altoona, the convention center, the ballpark and the county.

“Everybody thinks that Explore Altoona gets 56 percent and the county gets the rest,” Kessling said. “But that’s not the case.”

While commissioners have identified the Blair Alliance for Business and Economic Growth — the organization formed last year through the merger of the Altoona Blair County Development Corp. and the Blair County Chamber of Commerce — as the agency they are recommending to become the county’s TPA, they haven’t yet identified how much bed tax money would be allocated for that obligation.

The commissioners have talked about relying on the Blair Alliance for tourism promotion and for development of outdoor assets — including recreational trails — with possibly using bed tax revenue to help afford those assets or to secure state and federal grants.

While commissioners voted Thursday to approve an ordinance signifying their intention of creating the county’s Trail, Park and Recreational Authority, Kessling said the option of allocating bed tax money to the authority is something that can be discussed.

There will be forthcoming discussions, he said, about who gets the bed tax money and where it goes. And those allocations will need to comply with the state legislation that authorized the levy and how it’s spent, he said.

A week ago, commissioners convened a required public hearing that’s part of the decertification process. Representatives and supporters of Explore Altoona told Kessling and Webster that they were making a mistake. They praised Explore Altoona’s ongoing efforts for bringing in overnight lodging guests who pay the bed tax and generate the current revenue.

Explore Altoona Director Mark Ickes said Thursday that he was aware of the commissioners’ vote. Explore Altoona’s board of directors will be taking it under advisement, he said.