Franklin County made the right call in passing on a proposal to spend $135,000 in occupancy tax revenue toward housing for the Jamaican bobsled team as they train at the Olympic Sports Complex at Mount Van Hoevenberg this winter. But talk about this plan should not stop there.

This proposal came from the Saranac Lake-based North Country Sports Council — a not-for-profit group that wants to drive economic development in this region by funding or promoting sporting events. The opportunity was shared with the county Legislature at its organizational meeting earlier this month. The Saranac Lake Village Board and the Harrietstown Town Council both voted to back the idea. The Legislature has now essentially passed on the proposal by not taking a vote on it after its Tourism Advisory Committee declined to support it.

At face value, the proposal seemed like it could be a great idea. The $135,000 would not have come from local taxpayers; instead, the money would’ve come from tourists who stay at hotels, motels, bed-and-breakfasts and vacation rentals in Franklin County.

In Franklin County, occupancy tax revenue must be used to promote tourism. It makes sense, then, that this money would’ve been used to house athletes at the Hotel Saranac, effectively supporting tourism-related jobs, bringing more people to town to shop or eat locally, all the while theoretically promoting more tourism to the region.

Franklin County Legislator Lindy Ellis, who represents the Saranac Lake area, told the Saranac Lake Village Board this month that she saw an another added benefit: She hoped the Olympic team training here would inspire young kids to take up athletics. She said she was looking forward to seeing a diverse group of truly great athletes.

We see a number of issues with the plan.

Although we welcome county investment into Harrietstown, Saranac Lake and local businesses, and although we support the North Country Sports Council’s mission, we question whether this $135,000 expense would’ve truly generated enough tourism to justify the cost. It would’ve certainly been an act of good will toward the Jamaican bobsled team, who have strong ties to our area and who want to make Lake Placid its home-away-from-home. But $135,000 would’ve represented roughly 11% of the $1,171,296 in occupancy tax revenue that was collected countywide all of last year. We also question why one specific hotel was chosen above others in the area and why opportunities such as this are not being proposed for other athletes or teams. We question, too, whether Franklin County should’ve shouldered the entire cost, given that the village of Saranac Lake is split between two counties and the athletes are training in Essex County.

At the end of the day, as Harrietstown Councilor Jeremy Evans said this month, this cash infusion would’ve essentially been an “experiment.” Officials would’ve been working on trust that the plan will work out.

As for the branding part of the deal — we’re not so sure that putting Franklin County’s logo on the bobsleds of a non-U.S. team would’ve made a whole lot of sense. When a tourist considers a destination to visit, they probably don’t think, “Which county should I visit?” The county could also easily support the U.S. bobsled team instead, which is based in Lake Placid.

The secrecy around the TAC’s decision prompts an entirely new set of questions. We wonder why the TAC is so mum on their reasons for rejecting the idea. We also wonder why the county does not readily display the TAC’s list of members on its website, nor provide formal meeting minutes or vote counts for residents’ review, given that this committee seems to have so much sway on the Legislature’s decision-making.

Phil Hans, director of the Office of Economic Development and Tourism, told the Enterprise that the county’s Tourism Advisory Committee “did not present the Legislature with a positive recommendation,” and so some of the details of the proposal were not discussed.

We believe that given the TAC’s decision, and the questions that remain about this plan, the county Legislature was right to pass on this expense at this time, but this absolutely should not be the end of the discussion. We also believe that the TAC should not have had the ultimate say on this plan — elected officials should’ve.

When it comes to sports, local kids have a lot of sources of inspiration, given that this area is home to a number of Olympians, that neighboring Lake Placid is a world class winter sports destination that draws a diverse crowd of athletes on a regular basis, and that just last year Saranac Lake hosted elite curling competition during the Winter World University Games.

We do believe that meeting the Jamaican bobsled team would be an amazing opportunity for not just local kids, but for adults who can remember the team’s 1988 Olympic debut, which inspired the 1993 Disney movie “Cool Runnings.”

We think that lawmakers — whether at the county or local level — should consider earmarking some funding to pay the team for appearances in Saranac Lake while they train in Lake Placid. The turnout at these events would give lawmakers a sense of how much tourism could be generated by housing athletes longer-term in Saranac Lake before committing a large sum of money to this sort of “experiment.” Lawmakers should also consider how much sports tourism currently ties into their broader tourism plans and whether there’s potential in creating a specific fund for athlete support or appearances. The county, specifically, should also consider not only how to make the TAC’s process more transparent and accessible to the average resident, but how to make it easier for residents to understand where occupancy tax money is going. Tourism is often touted as a crucial pillar of this region’s economy — with so much at stake, residents deserve a better look into the process.