The Sangamon County Board just locked in a new 3% hotel motel tax to help expand the Bank of Springfield Center — but it wasn’t a quiet decision.
Local lodging representative Darren Dame warned the board the tax was moving too fast, questioned why Springfield should become one of the highest tax hotel markets in Illinois, and asked why one industry should carry the full burden for a project with community wide benefits.
Ryan McCrady pushed back, arguing that waiting would only drive up construction costs and that expanding the BOS Center would actually grow demand for hotel rooms and tourism.
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Banking on the BOS Center
Brian McFadden laid out a “middle path”: tying the new tax strictly to the BOS Center expansion and promising to revisit, and possibly reduce, the rate if state action or updated cost estimates change the financing.
Then, right before the final vote, a board member tried to cap how long the tax could last. Bond counsel stepped in, warning that a sunset clause could be “fatal” to the financing — leading to a last-minute amendment that keeps the tax adjustable only until bonds are issued, then effectively locks the rate for the life of the debt.
The debate ended with a 20–5 vote.
If you want to see how the arguments played out and what this could mean for hotels, visitors and downtown Springfield’s future, this meeting clip is worth a watch.
