Executive committee cuts all funding for Oneida tourism council

The Oneida County Executive Committee unanimously voted earlier this month to cease all funding for Oneida County Tourism Council (OCTC) in efforts to balance the county’s $4 million budget deficit for 2027.

The council had requested $92,800 for 2027, which included $65,500 for promotion of the county, and $27,300 for operational costs. These funds pay for staff to maintain a strong online presence, and also the distribution of marketing materials to keep Oneida County on people’s radar when planning their getaways.

The Wisconsin Department of Tourism reported that in 2025, visitors to Oneida County spent $314 million, translating to an economic impact of $408 million. The sales tax collected on direct visitor spending in that same year was $1.571 million, accounting for just more than 21% of the total sales tax collected by the county.

This news was not necessarily a shock to local tourism officials who have faced funding reductions in recent years.

Jacqui Sharpe, who serves as chair for the OCTC as well as executive director for Three Lakes Visitors Bureau, said the funding has been on the chopping block each year since she started on the council. She works closely with two other destination marketing organization executives — Lauren Sackett, CEO of Rhinelander Area Chamber of Commerce and vice chair and secretary for OCTC, and Krystal Westfahl, CEO of the Minocqua Area Visitors Bureau and treasurer for OCTC.

According to Sharpe, they had an inkling during the August pre-hearing that the county was again looking to defund the council.

“In August we asked for $92,500 and there was a motion that was not seconded to cut us completely,” Sharpe said. “They ended up passing us through to the October hearings at $70,000.”

But during budget hearings in early October, the committee unanimously voted to defund the program completely.

Sharpe said that this will have big impacts on tourism dollars to the county, and once those funds are taken away it can be difficult to get them back. In the statement she made to the committee, Sharpe called it a “shortsighted risk” to cut marketing dollars, and suggested they fund not out of the county’s tax levy, but instead use sales tax dollars generated by tourism.

“Tourism marketing is an investment in revenue outside the levy,” Sharpe told the committee. “In Oneida County, thanks to the economic impact numbers from the state, we know that one in every five sales tax dollars comes from direct visitor spending.”

Without that funding to pay for staffing and marketing costs, Sharpe said the initiatives of OCTC will no longer be available to visitors looking to plan their next vacation.

“The website, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, newsletter and email address will disappear. Additionally, the Northwoods ATV and Snowmobile Northwoods websites that were created through grant funding and maintained by us will no longer exist,” she told the committee.

Existing funding from the county also paid for other marketing campaigns, such as the creation and distribution of 20,000 Oneida County Trail Guides and 11,000 Vilas/Oneida County maps. Between 2023 and 2025, OCTC was awarded grants totalling $114,555 as well.

Three Lakes, Rhinelander and Minocqua all have a room tax that helps pay for marketing for their areas, but that leaves many other communities without any marketing dollars. That’s in contrast to Vilas County, where many towns have a room tax ranging from 4% to 8%.

In her statement, Sharpe noted that Vilas County has consistently been funding its tourism at a higher level than Oneida County despite more municipalities having room tax funding sources.

“Fifteen of the 21 communities in Oneida County do not collect a room tax and are not served by a chamber, visitors bureau or other destination marketing organization,” she said. “Those are the people, businesses and communities that Oneida County Tourism serves.

“Compare that to Vilas County, where only one of the 15 municipalities does not collect room tax and the county is still funding tourism at a higher level than we have done in years. They’re staying steady this year at $125,000 because they value the investment in tourism for their constituents and their own bottom line.”

In comments reported by WJFW, District 18 Supervisor Michael Tautges defended the vote to cut tourism funding, noting that much of the county’s marketing money goes toward municipalities that already collect local room taxes to promote themselves.

“We’re talking about between $70,000 and $100,000 for the county budget,” he said. “To market the county broadly as a whole, and it’s when we’re facing a $4 million deficit, it’s difficult to justify for the return on investment that we’re getting.”

He also said that tourism to the area has set records basically every year since the pandemic, and he doesn’t expect that to change even without dedicated marketing funds from the county.

But Sharpe worries that once it’s gone, the likelihood of funding coming back is slim.

“If sales tax dips, and your gamble doesn’t pay off, will the board be putting those marketing dollars back?” she asked the executive committee. “We all know the answer. In a county where one in five sales tax dollars comes directly from tourism, and you absolutely need revenue outside the property tax levy, that risk seems one too high to take.”

When budget hearings began, the county was facing a $4.2 million budget deficit for 2027, forcing the committee to make some difficult decisions. Ultimately, the committee was able to balance the budget, which will go to the full county board in November.

Although she sees it as unlikely, Sharpe noted the budget can be amended by a floor vote at that time. If a supervisor reintroduced an amount to the budget at that time, it would go to a vote of the full county board.