Visit Kankakee County is halfway to funding its intergovernmental agreement as the Kankakee County Board on Tuesday unanimously approved its inclusion in the deal.

The resolution approves the IGA among Kankakee County, the city of Kankakee and the villages of Bourbonnais and Manteno for the Kankakee County Convention and Visitors Bureau (Visit Kankakee County). Kankakee has approved the IGA, but Bourbonnais and Manteno still must vote on the measure.

The new IGA, a three-year deal, calls for each participating municipality to contribute a $70,000 base plus $5,000 for each hotel. The county has one hotel, so it will pay $75,000 in year one of the agreement.

Angelina Gear, executive director of Visit Kankakee County, spoke to the Board during public commentary and said she’s a resource for the members.

“If you ever have questions about what Visit Kankakee County does, how our funding works or how tourism impacts your communities, I’m always happy to connect one-on-one and walk through that with you,” she said. “Our goal is to support communities across the county, especially those that may or may not have their own tourism and resources by providing shared tools, data and marketing that help bring visitors and spending into our area.”

Board Chairman Matt Alexander-Hildebrand reminded the Board there’s a 3% escalator for the next two years of the IGA. The county’s base escalates in year two to $72,100 and in year three to $74,263.

“I just want everyone to be aware of the dollar amount,” he said. “[Visit Kankakee County] is good for this community. They promote tourism. You don’t always see them in town here, because they’re out promoting outside of Kankakee County, and I think she’s done a good job of articulating that to us. It’s good for our community.”

Formerly known as the Kankakee County Convention and Visitors Bureau, it was initially formed in 1983. The new IGA is set to go into effect on July 1. It renews the previous two-year agreement. The village of Bradley withdrew from the IGA two years ago and does its own tourism work.

Gear said visitors don’t see boundaries among the municipalities in the county.

“They experience Kankakee County as a whole, and this agreement helps us continue telling that story and working together to bring more people and more economic impact into our communities,” she said.” And I just want to say thank you for your continued support. It truly does make a difference with the work that we’re able to do across the county.”