Members of the authority responsible for the Blair County Convention Center are hoping to retain all or part of the bed tax revenue that county commissioners have been allocating for years.

The center’s authority is also open to providing office space for the county’s to-be-designated tourism promotion agency.

“We do hope the commissioners will continue to share some of (the bed tax revenue) with us,” authority chairman Matt Stuckey said Wednesday when the authority convened its July meeting.

On May 1, when commissioners voted to decertify Explore Altoona as the county’s tourism promotion agency and stop allocating bed tax revenue to that agency, they spoke of plans to further evaluate how future bed tax revenue is allocated. And they said the county would meet its obligation of providing bed tax dollars through late 2026 to pay off a loan for capital repairs at Peoples Natural Gas Field.

While commissioners have yet to make additional changes to bed tax allocations, the convention center continues to receive its allocation, based on a 2016 agreement signed by commissioners Bruce Erb, Terry Tomassetti and Ted Beam Jr.

That same 2016 agreement also allocated bed tax revenue to Explore Altoona as the county’s tourist promotion agency and to the ballpark, as well as some that the county would retain to support facilities such as Fort Roberdeau and Valley View County Park.

Based on the 2023-24 fiscal year ending Oct. 31, the 5% bed tax paid by those who stay at lodging facilities inside Blair County generated $1.36 million. It was allocated as follows: Explore Altoona, $764,143; convention center, $243,952; ballpark, $216,846; and county facilities, $140,247.

Stuckey and convention center Executive Director Tom Schilling said Wednesday that they can make valid cases for the convention center’s retention of bed tax revenue.

“We feel we provide value for the money they’ve invested in this facility over the years,” Stuckey said. “What we’ve done with the bed tax … by investing in advertising and bringing in business from outside the area … we’ve brought in some groups that we didn’t have before.”

Schilling said his records indicate that from a campaign that started in 2022, the convention center drew in 16 new groups from outside Blair County in 2023, then 18 new groups 2024. So far in 2025, it has hosted 11 new groups from outside Blair County.

And that kind of business that translates into local hotel rooms, Schilling said.

Stuckey also said he’s been asked to join a developing advisory committee that will assist in forming a destination marketing organization — also referred to as a tourism promotion agency — being created through Blair County Alliance for Business Development.

Commissioners have identified Blair County Alliance as the agency it’s relying on to form a unit taking on responsibilities assigned to a tourism promotion agency, as required by state law permitting counties to levy a bed tax.

Schilling referred to the work done so far by the Blair County Alliance, which makes use of “Discover Blair County” on a current website, discoverblaircounty.com, offering area promotional messages and referring to the county as the First Frontier. Schilling said that designation will be beneficial to the convention center during computer searches.

“With Blair County in both our names, we’re both going to come up,” Schilling said.

The discoverblaircounty.com website includes a link to the convention center’s website.

The convention center authority also has a history, beginning when it was in the planning stages, of using bed tax revenue to pay off a loan for construction and to offset capital expenses for the facility’s upkeep, in addition to marketing.

During Wednesday’s convention center authority meeting, Schilling acknowledged that the authority has $1 million available without any specific use designated. But he and others said they’re well aware of how capital expenditures have been increasing to cover bills related to upkeep of a building that’s almost 25 years old. Bills approved Wednesday for payment included $21,019 to repair the escalator that is reported to be getting more use because of an increase in use of rooms on the lower level.

Schilling said the facility’s capital expenditures in 2023 totaled $267,000, which included the expense of replacing the chiller component of its heating, ventilating and air condition system. In 2024, the capital expenditures totaled $560,000 which included new lighting for the facility.

“The next big expense is the roof,” Schilling said. “And maybe another chiller.”

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-947-7456.