County Commission Finance Chairman Tim Boyd said his review of the Chattanooga Visitors Bureau show high spending for travel, offices, meals and other items. He said tighter controls are needed over the agency that gets the entire portion of the county's hotel/motel tax proceeds.
CVB treasurer Keith Sanford responded that CVB President Bob Doak "runs a tight ship." Mr. Sanford said he and others on the bureau's executive committee have been spending a lot of time delving into the CVB budget since Commissioner Boyd began questioning the operation.
He said he concluded that Mr. Doak has controls and procedures in place "that are even tighter than we have at the Aquarium," where he is president.
Commissioner Boyd released these findings, which he said were identified from documents the Hamilton County Auditing Department provided at his request, and a meeting he had with the CVB staff on March 15.
-
100% of the Hotel/Motel Tax goes to Convention & Visitor’s Bureau (CVB) since 2008 and accounts for over 85% of their entire budget.
-
CVB does not follow Hamilton County Government procurement or travel policies
-
During FY2014 CVB travel expenses exceeded $250,000
-
CVB offices are on the 18th floor of the Suntrust Building
-
CVB has a ten year $1,000,000 contract with Simpson Group for the lease of the 18th floor
-
CVB spent well over $350,000 renovating 7,450 square feet of office space in the Suntrust Building.
-
Per Mr. Dolliver, V.P. Sales, “…100% of the Group/Convention business…” recruited by the CVB comes from the Southeast and 80% of this business comes from within Tennessee.
-
Per Bob Doak the area Chattanooga draws most of its tourist is within a 150 mile radius.
-
Per Mr. Tim Morgan, V.P. of Sports Events, the most needed venue to attract more athletic events to Chattanooga is a “State of the Art Track & Field Facility” with four multi-purpose fields.
-
S. Rees spent more money on travel than anyone else within CVB in FY2014. Ms. Rees’ job is to recruit motor coach clubs to Chattanooga.
-
Johnson Group received 40% of CVB advertising budget in 2014 without competitive bidding.
-
CVB 2015 asset sheet listed $940,000 in furniture and computers with an $80,000 server being the single most expensive piece of equipment.
-
The debt service on the County’s portion of cost associated with the Bessie Smith Hall was originally paid out of the Hotel/Motel Tax.
-
When the Hotel/Motel Tax took effect it was mostly used to service debt on venues and buildings associated with tourism and sporting events.
-
The County was asked by the CVB and received $125,000 from the General Funds to pay for portable launching docks to help recruit the Hooch Regatta to Chattanooga. This has become the #2 crew regatta in the Nation behind the James River Regatta in Boston. These launching docks could have been paid for with Hotel/Motel tax dollars.
Mr. Sanford said the travel and marketing are necessary for the CVB to continue to bring more and more conventions and visitors to Chattanooga.
He said, "Ruby Falls sends representatives to many of the locations we do because they are trying to get bus tours and other groups to their attraction."
Mr. Doak said earlier that it is necessary to send personnel to far-away events where the decision makers are present on upcoming trips and meetings.
He said much of the money going to the locally based Johnson Group is "pass through" money that eventually goes to TV stations, magazines and other outlets.