Butler County’s hotel/motel room tax generates $1 million annually for the county’s tourism promotion efforts. That total will increase with new facilities currently under construction or on the drawing board.

But a proposal that has been put forth in Harrisburg could endanger that flow of revenue. Local state legislators must step forward to build a coalition of lawmakers to block the move.

If they aren’t successful, Butler County could end up with only a fraction of the room tax revenue that it currently receives, and it’s anyone’s guess where the rest of the locally generated money would go.

Unequivocally, room tax money should remain in the county where the revenue originates.

The culprit in the room tax issue is a new state-funded study conducted by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania.

Not only does the study suggest more reporting requirements for county room tax revenues, which is not a bad thing, but it also suggests that the revenue in question be turned over to the state, which then would reimburse the counties based on the commonwealth’s wisdom.

That idea is cause for alarm. State residents don’t have to dig deep into their memories to recall state promises that didn’t materialize as predicted.

For example, property tax relief emanating from casino gambling profits has turned out to be much less than the impression initially given. And the commonwealth’s use of tobacco settlement money hasn’t remained committed to the laudable anti-smoking efforts that the money was intended to fund.

If the Rural Pennsylvania Center’s room tax aim is implemented, Butler County will lose much of the tax money being collected, while other counties and programs will reap the benefits of that lost revenue.

Meanwhile, just as the state should be trying to bolster its profitable tourism industry, the Corbett administration proposes to erode the state’s involvement.

Corbett is proposing that state tourism funding decrease to $3 million for the 2012-13 fiscal year from the $4 million that was allocated for the current fiscal calendar, which ends June 30.

That old state tourism slogan that used to appear on vehicle license plates — about having a “friend in Pennsylvania” — looks increasingly shallow as the state’s dedication to the industry’s health is cut back.

That $3 million Corbett is proposing for 2012-13 is mere pocket change, considering that Pennsylvania has 67 counties.

What Corbett is proposing amounts to setting up a lemonade stand and hoping everyone will stop by.

The room tax in Monroe County alone generates $2.8 million while Corbett is proposing an amount only $200,000 larger to tourism for the entire state.

The state-funded study is shortsighted in terms of its implications and Corbett is demonstrating shortsightedness in what the state should be doing to attract more visitors, conventions and other events.

Butler County’s state legislative delegation should not remain quiet as the room tax issue is being debated. At least a million dollars a year benefiting this county is at stake, jeopardized by an idea that doesn’t make sense.