County Board Approves BOS Center Expansion Plan

The Sangamon County Board approved a new countywide hotel and motel tax, clearing the way for Sangamon County to move forward with plans to expand the Bank of Springfield Center, with visitors staying in local hotels and motels footing the bill for the expansion.

The measure passed the County Board on Tuesday with twenty members voting in favor, and five voting opposed. The vote gives final county approval to a 3% hotel and motel tax that officials plan to use to finance an expansion of the downtown Springfield convention center.

The decision follows approval from the County Board's Finance Committee last week, where the proposal advanced with bipartisan, near-unanimous support.

Sangamon County received authorization from the state in 2024 to impose a countywide hotel tax of up to 3%. Revenue generated by the tax is required to support tourism-related facilities or programs and related debt service. County officials have said revenue from the newly approved tax will be dedicated to the BOS Center expansion and will not be used to finance construction of a proposed headquarters hotel.

The tax is expected to begin being added to hotel bills 30 days after final County Board approval.

The vote allows county officials to proceed with the convention center portion of a broader downtown redevelopment proposal that has been in development for several years. The larger plan previously called for both an expansion of the BOS Center and construction of an adjacent full-service hotel, along with the creation of the Capital Area Tourism Authority, or CATA.

That proposal required additional action from the Illinois General Assembly but failed to receive final approval before lawmakers adjourned their spring session May 31. Local and state officials have said they intend to continue pursuing the legislation needed to establish CATA and advance the hotel portion of the development.

Rather than wait for lawmakers to reconsider the broader proposal, county officials announced last week that they would use authority already granted by the state to move ahead with the BOS Center expansion separately.

County Board Chairman Andy Van Meter joined State Sen. Doris Turner, State Rep. Mike Coffey and Springfield Mayor Misty Buscher at the BOS Center on Aug. 25 to announce the revised approach. Officials said delaying the convention center expansion while awaiting state action could increase construction costs and push the project further behind schedule.

The county has been working with Garfield Public/Private on pre-development work that has included preliminary design and engineering, cost estimates, financial modeling, selection of a bond underwriter, a parking study and an additional feasibility study.

Officials have said the expansion would provide the BOS Center with additional space needed to retain existing conventions and compete for larger events that currently cannot be accommodated in Springfield.

Current plans include a new master ballroom that would substantially increase the center's convention and conference capacity. Officials hope to begin construction in fall 2027, with the expanded facility opening approximately three years later.

The BOS Center opened in 1979 and underwent an $18 million renovation in 2013. Local officials have argued that the existing facility is no longer large enough to compete effectively for some statewide and regional conventions.

Coffey, who also serves as chairman of the Springfield Metropolitan Exposition and Auditorium Authority, has said Springfield has lost numerous conventions and bookings because of limitations involving the BOS Center and the availability and stability of downtown hotel rooms.

Among the most prominent losses is the Illinois FFA State Convention, which is scheduled to move to Peoria beginning in 2028 after more than two decades in Springfield. Officials have cited the convention's departure as an example of the business Springfield could continue losing without additional convention space.

Supporters of the expansion have argued that bringing more conventions to Springfield would generate additional spending at hotels, restaurants and other businesses while creating construction and permanent jobs.

The hotel tax has also faced opposition from the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association and the Springfield Hotel & Lodging Association. The groups have argued that adding another 3% tax would make hotels in Springfield and Sangamon County less competitive with those in other Illinois communities.

The Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association previously said the additional tax would bring Springfield's combined hotel tax rate to approximately 17%, which the organization said would be the second-highest in Illinois behind Chicago.

Opponents have also questioned whether increasing lodging costs could make Springfield less attractive to convention organizers when competing against communities including Peoria, Bloomington-Normal, Rockford and the Quad Cities.

County officials have maintained that the additional revenue, combined with other funding associated with the expanded convention center, will provide the resources needed to move forward. Van Meter previously said the county would review the hotel tax rate once the project's final financing package is completed and after further discussions with the City of Springfield. If the full 3% is not necessary, he said the county could lower the rate.

The County Board's approval does not resolve the future of the proposed headquarters hotel. That portion of the redevelopment remains dependent on action from state lawmakers.

The original proposal envisioned a new 200- to 300-room full-service hotel adjacent to the BOS Center. Studies commissioned as part of the planning process have found that adding a headquarters hotel would increase the economic impact of an expanded convention center, although officials have said the studies also support moving forward with the BOS Center expansion on its own.

Turner and Coffey have said they plan to continue pursuing legislation in the General Assembly that would create CATA and provide the mechanisms needed to advance the hotel portion of the development. The proposed authority was part of legislation introduced earlier this year as a partnership involving state, county, city and convention center officials.

With Tuesday's 20-5 vote, however, the county no longer has to wait for that legislation to begin moving ahead with the convention center itself.

The broader redevelopment effort will now continue on two separate tracks, with Sangamon County proceeding with the BOS Center expansion under its existing state authority while local and state officials continue working toward legislative approval for the proposed headquarters hotel.