County Commission Finance Committee Chairman Tim Boyd said he is asking County Auditor Jenneth Randall to supply him with details about spending at the Chattanooga Visitors Bureau, including actual credit card and travel expense statements. He said he also wanted copies of contracts for office renovations made to the SunTrust Building 18th floor where the CVB has offices and all lease agreements between the owners of the SunTrust Building and CVB.
Auditor Randall on Wednesday provided some audited data about the CVB to County Commission members, but Commissioner Boyd said he wants more detailed information on spending.
Commissioner Boyd said he is studying whether the commission should consider ending the deal that has the CVB getting all the proceeds of the county portion of the hotel/motel tax, which the CVB has pegged for $7,178,464 this budget year.
At the same time he said he was clarifying that when he discussed $2 million for the CVB budget he was referring to cutting its budget by $2 million - not limiting it to a total of $2 million per year. The current total CVB budget is $8.4 million.
He noted that a $2 million reduction would still provide the tourism agency with $6.4 million.
Commissioner Boyd said the commission could use $2 million in hotel/motel funds for such projects as a new stadium at Howard High School and a new track at Central High School.
He said that amount should pay debt service on $20 million of such "tourism-related" projects that the county now does not have the money for.
Commissioner Joe Graham hit the way questioning of the Visitors Bureau "was so horribly in the newspaper."
He said the bureau is regularly audited and that county auditors spent almost two years studying the organization without turning up any problems.
He said, "This information should stop the witch hunt. I would like to see this issue put to bed."
Commissioner Graham said actions of the CVB had led to $1 billion in tourism economic benefit and "that is phenomenal. It's huge."
He added, "The CVB staff should be congratulated for a job well done and the funding mechanism should be left in place."