BEL AIR, Md. — A new development in a court clash between Harford County Executive Bob Cassilly and 'Visit Harford,' the private organization that handles the county's tourism outreach.
In July 2024 we told you about Visit Harford suing Cassilly for breach of contract, over his alleged withholding of County funding.
Visit Harford was hoping to get a court order forcing Cassilly to provide their organization with $290,000 in taxpayer dollars.
At the time Cassilly defended his decision, stating that funding Visit Harford would undermine efforts to control government spending, because they are a non-government entity with no County oversight.
The County in turn made a counterclaim against Visit Harford accusing them of failing to properly account for taxpayer dollars by not performing certain services as required by contract.
Circuit Court Judge W. Michel Pierson on Tuesday dismissed Visit Harford's complaint, instead ruling in favor of the County.
“I would like to thank our legal team for their diligence in protecting taxpayer dollars,” Cassilly said. “The unfortunate actions of Visit Harford in its failure to properly account for tax dollars should in no way reflect on the many wonderful hotels, venues, and attractions our county has to offer."
The hotel tax dollars Cassilly speaks of are in reference to his veto last year that would have let Visit Harford receive a portion of the county's hotel-tax revenue.
Visit Harford has overseen county tourism since 2015, when then-County Executive Barry Glassman abolished the local government's tourism division.
Cassilly's now decided to reverse that decision.
"My administration has moved tourism marketing in-house under the branding Hello Harford and we are supporting these local businesses and welcoming thousands of visitors to our beautiful county.”
WMAR-2 News has reached out to Visit Harford for reaction, and are awaiting to hear back.
