Unwilling to wait on the Illinois General Assembly, the Sangamon County Board plans to vote as soon as Sept. 1 to impose a new 3% hotel tax to fund a $60 million expansion of the BOS Center.
County officials say they want to act now because state legislation that would create an oversight board – the Capital Area Tourism Authority – and help finance a $200 million expansion of Springfield’s publicly owned convention center failed to progress in the 2026 spring session.
The larger expansion project would have included construction of a new $140 million, state-of-the-art hotel with 200 to 300 rooms connected to the proposed new BOS Center space.
All of the expansion, including the new hotel if that option becomes a reality through state legislation and future votes by county and city officials, is intended for county-owned land immediately south of the current convention center that is currently used as a parking lot.
The lot is south of East Adams Street, east of South Eighth Street and west of South Ninth Street.
County Board Chairperson Andy Van Meter said at a news conference Aug. 25 that a bipartisan group of Sangamon County and Springfield governmental leaders, as well as business and labor officials, support proceeding with the BOS Center expansion as soon as possible while state Sen. Doris Turner, D-Springfield, keeps working to pass legislation to get the rest of the project done.
The bipartisan group includes state Rep. Mike Coffey, R-Springfield, who said at the news conference that the new direction for the effort is being called “Operation Save Downtown Springfield.”
Springfield has lost several conventions to larger venues in other cities because current spaces at the BOS Center aren’t large enough, according to Coffey. The most recent example, he said, is the Illinois FFA State Convention, which will leave Springfield for Peoria after 2027.
“Springfield is the capital of Illinois, but our downtown convention capacity no longer allows us to compete at a level a state capital should,” Coffey said. “The choice is clear: We can invest in Springfield’s future, or we can keep watching the future check into hotels and convention centers somewhere else.”
In addition to serving in the Illinois House, Coffey, whose family owns Saputo’s restaurant, is chairman of the publicly elected panel – the Springfield Metropolitan Exposition and Auditorium Authority Board – that governs the BOS Center.
Van Meter said local leaders want to avoid the $700,000-per-month and $10 million-per-year in inflation-related increases in construction costs that would be associated with the wait for state legislation in the General Assembly to help pay for the more comprehensive project.
“Our community stands at a crossroads,” Van Meter said. “A small tax on visitors staying in our hotels can produce a significant benefit for the people who live in Sangamon County.”
The Sangamon County Board’s finance committee on Aug. 27 plans to discuss imposing a 3% countywide hotel tax that was first authorized by state legislation in 2024. If the County Board makes a final decision on the new tax Sept. 1, it would start to be added to hotel bills 30 days after that.
County officials said they hope to begin construction in fall 2027 on what would be a doubling in size of the 65,000-square-foot BOS Center. If that happens, an expanded BOS Center would open in about three years, Van Meter said.
The BOS Center first opened in 1979 and underwent an $18 million renovation in 2013.
Van Meter and Coffey brushed aside concerns from the Springfield Hotel & Lodging Association, the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association and that the increase in hotel taxes would make it harder for all hotels in Sangamon County to attract guests.
The lodging associations said that if approved, the new countywide hotel tax would bring Springfield’s total hotel tax – which includes the state hotel tax – to 17%, the second highest in the state behind Chicago, which has a 17.39% hotel rate.
Van Meter said two different feasibility studies conducted for the county indicate the new countywide hotel tax would be worth the expense to help pay off long-term borrowing financing the proposed project and would improve local tourism, hotel occupancy rates and the community’s ability to attract conventions.
Van Meter said he hopes the General Assembly will act on the proposed Capital Area Tourism Authority soon. “But we cannot ignore the millions of dollars that delaying this project could cost taxpayers,” he said.
“Moving ahead now saves money, and if the financial financing package shows we do not need the full 3%, we are committed to lowering the rate,” Van Meter said.
Bonds – a form of low-interest borrowing issued by the county – would fund the convention center expansion and be paid off over a 30-year period with $2.4 million a year in proceeds from the new countywide hotel tax, Van Meter said.
Funds to repay the bonds also would come from $500,000 a year in lease revenue the county would receive from the SMEAA board for the expanded convention space, he said.
In addition, he said the County Board may decide to chip in the county’s share of incremental sales tax revenue associated with the BOS Center expansion in the 62701 ZIP code.
Turner and Coffey said they support the new strategy for the overall project, as does Springfield Mayor Misty Buscher, a Republican.
Buscher said an expanded BOS Center would benefit hotels and businesses throughout Springfield and would create good-paying temporary construction jobs and full-time jobs at the BOS Center.
“The county is making the right decision by keeping this project moving,” Buscher said. “An expanded BOS Center gives Springfield the opportunity to attract larger events, and that means new visitors staying throughout our city.”
If the General Assembly passes legislation to help fund a new hotel, that piece of the project would divert part of the state’s share of hotel and sales taxes in the 62701 ZIP code to repay bonds. Funds for repayment also would come from lease payments from the new hotel.
Van Meter said the Springfield City Council would be asked to help repay bonds for the new hotel from the city’s share of hotel taxes generated by the new hotel, and possibly from the city’s incremental increase in 62701 sales taxes attributed to economic activity spurred by the project.
Other supporters of the new direction for the project include Ryan McCrady, president and CEO of the Springfield Sangamon Growth Alliance; Conn’s Hospitality Group LLC President and CEO Karen Conn; Central Illinois Building and Construction Trades Council Aaron Gurnsey; Downtown Springfield Inc. Executive Director Jay Shanle and HSHS St. John’s Hospital and HSHS Central Illinois Market President and CEO Brian Brennan.
This story has been updated from the original version.
Dean Olsen is a senior staff writer with Illinois Times. He can be reached at dolsen@illinoistimes.com, 217-679-7810 or www.x.DeanOlsenIT.