Plainfield village trustees have rejected a request by the Heritage Corridor Destinations for the village to provide $18,000 in annual funding to the tourism organization.

The Plainfield Village Board on Monday unanimously denied the request. They said now was not the right time to make such a contribution.

The $18,000 in annual funding would be the village’s membership contribution.

“I appreciate what you’re doing and the goals of the organization,” village trustee Richard Kiefer said in addressing Heritage Corridor Destinations President/CEO Bob Navarro at the meeting.

At the same time, Kiefer voiced skepticism about how the membership contribution might benefit Plainfield. He also noted the membership contribution is not part of the village budget.

Village trustees recently approved a donation of $234,027.34 to the Plainfield Historical Society that was not budgeted.

“I just don’t want to get into the practice of putting money into things that we didn’t budget,” Kiefer said.

The last time HCD received funding from the village was in 2009.

“That was to publish a community guide, not for the village to be a paying member,” Plainfield Village Administrator Joshua Blakemore said in a memo to the mayor and village trustees. “While Convention and Visitors Bureaus provide marketing for a variety of functions throughout multiple counties, it is difficult to quantify a return on investment.”

Heritage Corridor Destinations President/CEO Bob Navarro said the group uses funding from municipalities to help secure state grants. He said the proposed membership would provide the village with access to resources it currently does not have.

“Your dollars are an investment in what we do,” he said. “We’ll connect you with EnjoyIllinois.com. We also are connected with VisitWill.com as well as the The First Hundred Miles. So there’s a variety of organizations you’re not currently connected with that would bring exposure to your community.”

Heritage Corridor Destinations works with Joliet, Wilmington and other communities along with a number of counties.

“We’re currently working with attractions that are being built in our six county region,” Navarro said. “It’s important that you’re doing that now and laying that foundation now.”

He said his organization does its promotion “outside of your local community.”

“So we are placing advertising in the St. Louis market, in the Quad Cities, in Chicago, in Wisconsin,” Navarro said. “We’re trying to bring people in from outside the community into the community.”