The Lake County Council voted 5-0 to approve a roughly $6.4 million 2027 budget for the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority, capping a year that SSCVA officials say brought record hotel stays, a jump in tax collections, and a growing role for artificial intelligence in scouting events across the region.
SSCVA President and CEO Phil Taillon told the council the authority had a record year, according to the Chicago Tribune. Chief Financial Officer Nicole Wolverton said SSCVA had year-over-year increases in innkeepers tax collections for 10 months of 2026. Wolverton said SSCVA collected about $700,000 more in innkeepers tax in 2026 than it did the previous year, even as the agency cut more than $300,000 from its own 2026 budget.
Budget Increase Covers Legal Costs and Airshow Deal
Despite the cuts elsewhere, SSCVA requested a budget increase of nearly $127,000, which officials said would cover litigation costs, employee health insurance, and airshow partnerships. The authority budgeted $300,000 in attorney fees from innkeepers tax in 2026, a figure set to rise to $500,000 in 2027.
Part of that spending bump ties back to the Gary Air Show, which SSCVA officials expect to roughly break even on financially despite its cancellation this year. The show was called off because of storm damage from the Aug. 11 derecho, and SSCVA now plans to hire the Thunderbirds for the 2027 show, a move that will add $25,000 to next year's cost. The agency's finances around the cancellation were previously detailed when Wolverton told the Tribune in August that the authority was “hoping for a wash” after about 35 of the show's 70 sponsors agreed to let their payments apply toward fixed costs — a shortfall SSCVA appears to have largely avoided.
Hotel Stays Climb, But an Exact Count Stays Elusive
SSCVA President and CEO Phil Taillon said the agency recorded its highest number of hotel stays and events in 2026, pointing to volleyball championships, basketball tournaments, softball championships and cheer competitions that came to the county this year but weren't held there in 2025. He said he knew thousands of hotel stays were generated by agency-backed events but acknowledged he lacked an exact count.
Taillon argued the county has little choice but to keep pursuing that business aggressively, warning that surrounding counties and states will scoop up events Lake County doesn't chase. SSCVA's work goes beyond booking games, too — the agency also helps organizations with logistics such as arranging housing for visitors coming to Lake County.
Artificial Intelligence Enters the Scouting Process
Council members also heard how SSCVA has started leaning on artificial intelligence far more heavily than in previous years. Staff now use AI tools to identify events happening in local cities and towns that could be worth promoting, then confirm those leads before pursuing them, with the technology helping the agency begin planning event promotion more broadly.
Taillon said AI could eventually replace some lower-level positions within the organization but stressed SSCVA is nowhere near that point today.
A Convention Center and a Possible Bears Connection
Much of the broader budget conversation centered on a planned Lake County convention center adjacent to the Hard Rock Casino. SSCVA intends to assign staff specifically to market the venue once it opens. Taillon told the council he has attended conventions throughout Indiana but never one in Lake County, because the county has lacked a venue to host them — something he said a properly marketed convention center could change by drawing both visitors and spending.
The public financing structure also depends on a local contribution: the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority said Gary had to demonstrate an equal local contribution to release the state match. A funding agreement among Gary, Hard Rock and the RDA was intended to secure that local funding and set out responsibilities, including the timing and use of deposits. That makes the convention center’s path forward a financing and development-agreement undertaking, not just a marketing opportunity for SSCVA. The RDA’s meeting minutes detail the local-match requirement.
The convention-center concept is meant to fill a venue gap left when Merrillville’s Radisson Hotel and conference center closed in 2016. A 2024 feasibility study envisioned a 145,000-square-foot facility, including 73,000 square feet of meeting and exhibition space; the former Radisson had about 24,700 square feet of meeting and ballroom space. The study examined 14 sites, and Lake County commissioners later selected the Gary-Hard Rock proposal. Indiana has authorized up to $100 million in matching state funds for a Lake County center. The feasibility study’s proposed scale and funding framework put the project’s ambition in context.
Taillon added that a Chicago Bears move to Lake County would significantly increase SSCVA's workload in marketing the area. Not every council member shared the same read on the county's tourism potential: Ted Bilski said he does not view Lake County as a tourism destination or convention-center location, though he still voted to approve the budget, saying final approval was the council's responsibility regardless of his personal view. Christine Cid offered a different take, saying SSCVA's work brings visitors whose spending supports local businesses. Council members Charlie Brown and Pete Lindemulder were absent from the meeting.
Bears Stadium Search Still Shadows Regional Planning
The Bears question extends beyond SSCVA's budget hearing. The Northwest Indiana Professional Development Commission lacked a quorum for its Tuesday meeting, but commission chair Jay Wilkerson, who was appointed by Gov. Mike Braun, said he remains confident Hammond will become the Bears' next home despite the team's leaders meeting with Illinois legislators. Wilkerson described the Hammond proposal as exceptional and the site as high quality, and said the process would move quickly once a decision is made.
The Bears’ stadium question now has a state-created financing framework, but that is not the same as a completed relocation deal. Indiana Gov. Mike Braun signed Senate Bill 27 on Feb. 26, 2026, establishing the Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority and authorizing it to acquire, finance, build and operate a stadium near Wolf Lake. The law’s financing plan draws on Lake and Porter county food-and-beverage taxes, Lake County’s innkeepers tax and a Hammond admissions tax, tying a possible team move to a broader public-finance and tourism effort. The bill’s powers and proposed revenue sources show what is at stake for regional planners.
State Rep. Earl Harris, a Democrat from East Chicago, said that as far as he knows, the Bears haven't changed their focus away from Hammond. Whether that focus turns into a finalized move remains an open question for both the team and the tourism agency that would have to help market it.
