PART 3 OF 3 — INVESTIGATIVE SERIES
FOLLOW THE HOTEL-TAX MONEY
Franklin Authorized Up to $1.5 Million for a ROC Ventures Tourism Partnership. The Promised Tourism Center Never Opened. What Did Taxpayers Get in Return?
By Dr. Richard Busalacchi
Franklin Community News
In February 2020, the Franklin Tourism Commission authorized one of its largest and longest tourism commitments: up to $150,000 per year for ten years — potentially $1.5 million — for shared tourism activities with ROC Ventures, developer of Ballpark Commons.
The arrangement ultimately became intertwined with the naming of the Milwaukee Milkmen stadium as Franklin Field, the creation of Engage Franklin, and a promised Tourism/Visitors Center at Ballpark Commons.
Six years later, Franklin Community News' review of Tourism Commission minutes, agreements, federal tax filings, Wisconsin room-tax reports and Common Council records raises a straightforward question:
What measurable tourism benefits did Franklin receive for the investment?
The question is especially relevant because one of the most visible components of the original arrangement — a public Tourism/Visitors Center at Ballpark Commons — never opened.
The $150,000-a-year naming-rights arrangement, however, continued.
THE $1.5 MILLION DECISION BEGAN IN FEBRUARY 2020
The public record establishes when the financial commitment began.
At the February 19, 2020 Tourism Commission meeting, Vice Chair Shaun Marefka presented a proposed partnership with ROC Ventures. The concept included creating a tourism entity, sharing an employee under Tourism Commission authority, renaming the stadium to reflect Franklin and potentially renaming the broader Ballpark Commons development.
Chair Amy Schermetzler moved, with Mark Wylie supporting, to authorize spending up to $150,000 annually under a ten-year contract for “shared tourism-based activities with ROC Ventures.”
The motion carried.
Only three of the Commission's five regular members were marked present: Schermetzler, Marefka and Wylie.
At the maximum authorized amount, the potential commitment totaled:
$1.5 million over ten years.
The approved minutes reviewed by FCN do not record projections for hotel-room nights, overnight visitors, additional room-tax collections or another measurable lodging-performance benchmark supporting the commitment.
That does not establish that no such analysis existed outside the minutes. But FCN has not identified it in the approval record reviewed for this article.
WISCONSIN LAW CONNECTS ROOM-TAX SPENDING TO OVERNIGHT TOURISM
Wisconsin law provides an important benchmark for evaluating how room-tax revenue is used.
Under Wis. Stat. §66.0615, “tourism promotion and tourism development” includes qualifying marketing projects, transient-tourist informational services and certain tangible municipal development.
But the statutory definition also requires qualifying activities to be significantly used by transient tourists and reasonably likely to generate paid overnight stays at qualifying lodging establishments.
The statute does not require every tourism expenditure to generate enough additional room-tax revenue to pay for itself. Nor does the absence of a hotel-room projection in meeting minutes establish that an expenditure violated state law.
It does, however, raise a reasonable accountability question:
What information did commissioners rely upon in determining that a potential $1.5 million ROC Ventures partnership satisfied the state's tourism standard?
WHAT COMMISSIONERS WERE ORIGINALLY TOLD THEY WERE BUYING
The original arrangement was broader than simply paying to put the name “Franklin Field” on a baseball stadium.
By May 20, 2020, Tourism Commission minutes described a proposed Visitors Center at Ballpark Commons, co-managed by ROC Ventures and the Tourism Commission.
The proposal contemplated a full-time employee dedicated to citywide tourism support for Franklin tourism businesses, along with tourism marketing, promotion and events.
ROC would provide space.
The Tourism Commission would invest approximately $150,000 annually.
And ROC Ventures would forego selling the stadium naming rights so the stadium and Ballpark Commons could instead carry Franklin-oriented names.
That distinction is important.
The original proposition wasn't simply:
$150,000 for a stadium name.
It was presented as a broader tourism partnership.
FROM A PRIVATE NAMING SPONSOR TO FRANKLIN FIELD
The history preceding Franklin's involvement provides additional context.
The stadium originally carried the Routine Field name through a private naming-rights arrangement involving Routine Baseball. That relationship later deteriorated and became the subject of litigation.
After the Routine name disappeared, ROC Ventures publicly indicated that another naming-rights partner would be sought.
Then came Franklin.
By June 3, 2020, Tourism Commission minutes referred to the Commission's “$150,000 annual commitment to ROC Ventures.”
Commissioners also discussed what would happen if declining room-tax collections were insufficient to make that payment.
And the Commission formally voted to name the stadium:
Franklin Field.
One week later, commissioners approved Engage Franklin as the identity for a tourism initiative “in partnership with ROC Ventures” and approved Franklin Field signage.
THE TOURISM CENTER WAS MORE THAN A PROMISE
The proposed Tourism/Visitors Center was not merely an early talking point.
The final Naming Rights Agreement, effective July 1, 2020, contained a provision titled “Lobby Tourism Center.”
It provided that during the agreement's term the Franklin Tourism Commission “shall have a Tourism Center” in the lobby of the ROC Ventures office building at Ballpark Commons.
The Tourism Commission was responsible for the center's design, construction, installation, maintenance and operating expenses. Engage Franklin staff were to have access to a dedicated desk, telephone, internet service, conference space and other amenities.
The City subsequently promoted the Visitors Center publicly.
In August 2020, Franklin's newsletter described Engage Franklin as a partnership involving the Tourism Commission and ROC Ventures and told residents that a Visitors Center was being created where visitors could obtain information about Franklin attractions, lodging and restaurants.
The Commission later reviewed conceptual designs for the facility.
The Engage Franklin Tourism Director's job responsibilities also included supervising and stocking the Visitors Center and responding to requests for visitor information.
Yet in March 2021, City materials were still describing it as the:
“planned Visitors Center.”
And the public Tourism/Visitors Center contemplated by the agreement never opened at Ballpark Commons.
THE COMMON COUNCIL WAS TOLD ABOUT THE VISITORS CENTER
The Visitors Center was not known only to Tourism Commission members.
In March 2021, the Tourism Commission came before the Franklin Common Council seeking permission for Engage Franklin to use the City's trademark and logo.
Materials presented to the Council described Engage Franklin's activities as including “creation of a Visitors Center,” along with advertising, public relations, placemaking and destination marketing of businesses throughout Franklin.
The Common Council therefore had direct notice that a Visitors Center was part of the developing Engage Franklin tourism initiative.
FCN's review of subsequent annual-report materials has not located a report specifically informing the Common Council that the Visitors Center contemplated in the original tourism arrangement had never been established.
Meanwhile, the Franklin Field arrangement continued.
THE TOURISM CENTER DIDN'T OPEN. THE $150,000 PAYMENT CONTINUED.
By November 2022, the Tourism Commission was discussing the future of Engage Franklin.
Commissioners and representatives of Engage Franklin and ROC Ventures discussed future:
funding, deliverables, metrics and agreement structure.
At that same meeting, the Tourism Commission approved another:
$150,000 annual Franklin Field naming-rights invoice.
The sequence raises an obvious question.
If the original arrangement contemplated a Tourism Center, tourism staffing and other tourism services — and the center never opened — what remaining deliverables were being measured against the continuing $150,000 annual expenditure?
THE THREE-YEAR CHECKPOINT
The original February 2020 authorization contemplated a renewal option after year three.
The final Naming Rights Agreement likewise contemplated a review around the three-year period to determine whether the arrangement was working and whether renegotiation was necessary.
And by 2023, the Commission was reconsidering the relationship.
Commissioners obtained outside tourism research recommending data-driven decision-making and continued negotiations involving both Engage Franklin and the Franklin Field agreement.
The Commission also sought a future Engage Franklin governing structure containing directors independent of ROC Ventures.
That does not establish that the earlier structure was improper. It does show that independence, deliverables and measurable performance had become explicit considerations as the relationship evolved.
What FCN has not located in the records reviewed is a three-year performance report identifying the number of paid overnight stays attributable to the Franklin Field arrangement or explaining what happened to the never-opened Tourism Center.
THE RELATIONSHIP WAS RESTRUCTURED
In September 2023, the Tourism Commission approved a new Tourism Entity Agreement with Engage Franklin.
The agreement transformed Engage Franklin into Franklin's contracted destination marketing organization and substantially changed the flow of room-tax revenue.
Beginning January 1, 2024, the Tourism Commission was required to transfer 75% of the room-tax money allocated to it by the City to Engage Franklin. Engage Franklin was required to spend the room-tax funds it received under the agreement on tourism promotion and development.
The agreement also contemplated assignment of the Franklin Field Naming Rights Agreement to Engage Franklin, subject to an amendment, while maintaining a maximum annual naming-rights expenditure of $150,000.
It established quarterly financial reporting, an annual independent accounting review and annual budget planning.
Importantly, however, while the Tourism Commission could review and make recommendations concerning Engage Franklin's annual budget, the agreement did not give the Commission approval authority over that budget.
THE COMMON COUNCIL HAS VISIBILITY — BUT DOESN'T APPROVE EACH EXPENDITURE
The Tourism Commission makes the spending decisions involving room-tax money allocated to it. The Franklin Common Council does not appear to approve each Tourism Commission expenditure.
But the Commission does not operate entirely outside elected City government.
Tourism Commissioners are appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the Common Council.
Franklin also requires the Commission to submit an annual report to the Common Council itemizing expenditures and proposing its budget for the following year.
In recent years, those reports have been informational presentations rather than requests for Council approval.
By 2024, Council members were being told that the Tourism Commission had contracted with Engage Franklin to conduct tourism marketing and provide tourism services.
And in November 2025, Engage Franklin President Laura Nelson was scheduled to report directly to the Common Council concerning Engage Franklin's tourism-marketing activities.
That creates two distinct levels of accountability:
The Tourism Commission makes the tourism-spending decisions.
The Common Council receives recurring information about those expenditures and has an opportunity to question how public tourism dollars are performing.
PUBLIC ROOM-TAX MONEY BEGINS FLOWING THROUGH ENGAGE FRANKLIN
Franklin's official Wisconsin room-tax reports show how substantial those transfers became.
In 2024, Franklin collected:
$563,922 in room tax.
The City reported $204,936 distributed to Engage Franklin and $207,086 to the Tourism Commission.
The $204,936 reported by the City as going to Engage Franklin exactly matches the $204,936 in contributions and grants reported by Engage Franklin on its 2024 federal Form 990.
Engage Franklin's total 2024 revenue was approximately:
$309,134 consisting of $204,936 in contributions and grants, $104,137 in program-service revenue and $61 in investment income.
Its total expenses were approximately:
$291,189.
WHAT WERE THE $154,000 IN “PROGRAM SPONSOR FEES”?
One expense on Engage Franklin's 2024 federal tax filing deserves further explanation.
Engage Franklin reported:
$154,000 in “Program Sponsor Fees.”
That figure is close to the maximum $150,000 annual Franklin Field naming-rights expenditure.
But FCN has not established that the $154,000 consisted of the Franklin Field payment, and the similarity in amounts alone is not sufficient to draw that conclusion.
The underlying expenditure records should answer the question:
Who received the $154,000 and what did Engage Franklin purchase?
AN $83,229 BOARD-MEMBER-RELATED LOAN
Engage Franklin's 2024 Form 990 also reports an $83,229 outstanding loan associated with board member Joe Zimmerman.
The filing describes the purpose as:
“STARTUP COSTS.”
The accompanying explanation states that the board member lent money to Engage Franklin through a company in which he holds an ownership interest, describes the transaction as arm's-length and says repayment is expected when adequate cash becomes available.
Zimmerman is associated with ROC Ventures, although the tax filing language reviewed by FCN does not identify which Zimmerman-owned company provided this particular loan.
The existence of the loan does not establish wrongdoing.
But several basic questions remain:
Which company provided the money?
What expenses constituted the $83,229 in startup costs?
What are the repayment terms?
What conflict-of-interest procedures were followed?
And what revenue will ultimately be used to repay it?
ROOM-TAX FUNDING TO ENGAGE FRANKLIN JUMPS 66%
The flow of public room-tax money increased substantially in 2025.
Franklin's official state report shows:
Total room tax collected: $649,016
Distributed to Engage Franklin: $340,335
Distributed to the Tourism Commission: $155,501
Engage Franklin's reported distribution therefore increased from $204,936 in 2024 to $340,335 in 2025.
That's an increase of:
$135,399 — approximately 66%.
Over the same period, Franklin's total room-tax collections increased from $563,922 to $649,016 — approximately 15%.
The differing growth rates do not by themselves indicate anything improper. The contractual distribution structure and timing of payments can affect year-to-year amounts.
But as the public funding grows, so does the importance of transparent reporting about exactly where the money goes and what results it produces.
THE STATE REQUIRES DISCLOSURE OF BUSINESS CONNECTIONS
Wisconsin's room-tax reporting requirements provide another layer of transparency.
Municipalities must identify members of the Tourism Commission and governing body of a tourism entity receiving room-tax revenue, along with businesses those individuals own, operate or work for.
Franklin's 2024 report identified both James Pekar and Joe Zimmerman with ROC Ventures among Engage Franklin's governing-body disclosures.
The 2025 report identified Joe Zimmerman — ROC Ventures.
Other Engage Franklin board members were associated with Franklin hotels, restaurants and other businesses.
Those relationships do not establish improper conduct. Indeed, participation by tourism-industry representatives is an expected part of destination marketing.
But the disclosures underscore the importance of the conflict-of-interest and independent-governance safeguards contained in Engage Franklin's agreements and policies.
FRANKLIN LATER EMBRACED “HOTEL STAY NIGHTS” AS A MEASURE
Perhaps the most revealing comparison comes from the Tourism Commission's own later practices.
By 2024, the Commission was telling the Common Council that its tourism grant program supported projects that:
“create hotel stay nights.”
And in December 2025, when the Commission considered a substantial tourism grant request from Polonia Sport Club, the applicant was expected to return with room-night calculations.
That is a reasonable standard.
Hotel room taxes exist because people stay overnight in hotels. Wisconsin law itself connects qualifying tourism promotion and development with activities reasonably likely to generate paid overnight stays.
But that creates an unavoidable comparison.
In February 2020, the Commission authorized:
Up to $1.5 million
for the ROC Ventures tourism partnership.
The approved minutes reviewed by FCN contain no corresponding hotel-room-night calculation.
Years later, considerably smaller tourism applicants were being asked to demonstrate room nights.
If hotel stays are the benchmark for other tourism investments, what was the measurable overnight-stay return from Franklin's $150,000-a-year arrangement?
WHAT DID THE COMMON COUNCIL KNOW — AND WHAT DID IT ASK?
This question extends beyond the Tourism Commission.
The Common Council did not make the original February 2020 spending decision.
But elected officials subsequently received annual reports concerning Tourism Commission activities, expenditures and budgets.
The Council was also specifically told about the Visitors Center.
In March 2021, when the Tourism Commission sought permission for Engage Franklin to use the City's trademark and logo, materials presented to the Common Council described Engage Franklin's planned activities as including creation of a Visitors Center, advertising, public relations, placemaking and destination marketing.
The Visitors Center never opened.
FCN's review has not located a subsequent annual report specifically telling the Council that this component of the original arrangement was never established.
Nor has FCN located a report presented to the Council quantifying paid overnight stays attributable specifically to the continuing Franklin Field naming-rights expenditure.
That does not make the Common Council responsible for the Tourism Commission's individual spending decisions.
It does raise a legitimate oversight question:
As annual reports came before Franklin's elected officials, what questions were asked about whether one of the Tourism Commission's largest long-term commitments was producing measurable tourism results?
THE $150,000 STRUCTURE SURVIVED THE TRANSITION
The naming-rights arrangement didn't disappear when Engage Franklin became Franklin's DMO.
The Tourism Entity Agreement expressly contemplated transferring the rights and responsibilities of the Franklin Field Naming Rights Agreement to Engage Franklin.
On March 25, 2024, the Tourism Commission met in closed session concerning the agreement involving the Commission, Milwaukee Milkmen Baseball LLC, ROC Ventures LLC and Engage Franklin.
After returning to open session, commissioners approved the amendment.
The $150,000 maximum annual naming-rights structure continued under the reconfigured tourism system.
The Tourism Center did not.
THIS IS A QUESTION OF ACCOUNTABILITY — NOT A FINDING OF ILLEGALITY
FCN's review does not establish that purchasing stadium naming rights is inherently an unlawful use of Wisconsin room-tax revenue.
Wisconsin law expressly recognizes qualifying tourism marketing projects, and the Franklin Field arrangement includes advertising, signage and promotional assets that could serve a legitimate tourism-marketing purpose.
Nor does FCN's review establish that ROC Ventures, Engage Franklin, the Tourism Commission or City officials acted unlawfully.
The issue is more fundamental:
performance, transparency and accountability.
Franklin's Tourism Commission is entrusted with public hotel-tax revenue for a specific tourism purpose.
Its own later practices emphasize generating hotel stay nights.
The public therefore has a legitimate interest in knowing what measurable overnight-tourism results followed one of the Commission's largest and longest financial commitments.
QUESTIONS THAT STILL DESERVE ANSWERS
After reviewing Tourism Commission minutes, agreements, Common Council records, federal tax filings and state room-tax reports, FCN believes several questions remain unanswered:
What hotel-room-night or overnight-tourism analysis supported the February 2020 authorization of up to $150,000 annually for ten years with ROC Ventures?
Why was the Tourism Center expressly contemplated in the 2020 arrangement never established?
When the arrangement reached its three-year review period, what measurable performance results were evaluated before it continued?
How many paid overnight hotel stays can reasonably be attributed to the Franklin Field naming-rights and promotional package?
What specifically comprised Engage Franklin's $154,000 in “Program Sponsor Fees” reported in 2024, and did any portion represent the Franklin Field naming-rights payment?
Which company provided the $83,229 startup loan associated with Joe Zimmerman, what were its terms and what source of funds is expected to repay it?
What specifically did Engage Franklin purchase with the $340,335 in Franklin room-tax money reported as distributed to the organization in 2025?
What performance information regarding Franklin Field and Engage Franklin has been presented to the Common Council beyond overall room-tax collections and general tourism activities?
The last spending question should be answerable from existing public records.
Franklin's official 2025 state room-tax report specifically identifies an attachment titled:
“2025 Engage Franklin Expenditures Over $1,000.pdf.”
Those expenditures should provide taxpayers with a clearer picture of where the money went.
THE BOTTOM LINE
The story that began in 2020 was bigger than a baseball stadium name.
Franklin's Tourism Commission authorized up to $1.5 million for a broad tourism partnership with ROC Ventures.
Residents were subsequently told the initiative would include Engage Franklin, dedicated tourism staffing, destination marketing and a Visitors Center at Ballpark Commons.
The Tourism Center was written into the arrangement.
It never opened.
The $150,000-a-year Franklin Field structure continued.
The tourism system was eventually restructured, and Engage Franklin became Franklin's contracted destination marketing organization.
Public room-tax distributions to Engage Franklin grew from $204,936 in 2024 to $340,335 in 2025.
None of that, standing alone, proves the expenditure was improper.
But after six years and hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual public tourism funding, Franklin taxpayers, hotel operators and elected officials should be able to answer a simple question:
What did Franklin get for the money?
And when the statutory purpose of the funding is tied to overnight tourism, there should be another answer available as well:
How many heads did the investment actually put in beds?
This piece reflects the author’s personal opinion and experiences. All statements are presented as commentary protected under the First Amendment. Readers are encouraged to review public records, filings, and documented evidence referenced throughout this article.
Dr. Richard Busalacchi is the Publisher of Franklin Community News, where he focuses on government transparency, community accountability, and local public policy. He believes a community’s strength depends on open dialogue, honest leadership, and the courage to speak the truth—even when it makes powerful people uncomfortable.
🕯️ The solution isn’t another insider in a new office. It’s sunlight, scrutiny, and the courage to vote differently.
Because until voters demand honest, transparent government, the corruption won’t stop — it will only change titles.
Elections have consequences — and Franklin’s next one may decide whether transparency makes a comeback.
💬 If you value hard-hitting, fact-based investigative reporting about our hometown of Franklin — follow Franklin Community News on Facebook.
Together, we can keep local government honest, transparent, and accountable
— for the greater good.
💬 If you value hard-hitting, fact-based investigative reporting about our hometown of Franklin — follow Franklin Community News on Facebook.
Together, we can keep local government honest, transparent, and accountable
— for the greater good.
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