Why then should taxpayers do the heavy lifting by subsidizing an already successful event? Maybe just so the local politicians can take credit for something they really didn't do.
A fiscally conservative policy center criticized Chattanooga officials for spending $225,000 on Ironman events.
In its annual Pork Report, released Tuesday, the Beacon Center of Tennessee argued that the city government should not spend taxpayer money for the triathlon races that have become identified with Chattanooga. Quoting the city’s budget, the author of the report pointed out that the for-profit events sell out in mere minutes, with thousands of prospective athletes clamoring for a chance to compete.
“Why then should taxpayers do the heavy lifting by subsidizing an already successful event?” the author of the Beacon Center report wrote. “Maybe just so the local politicians can take credit for something they really didn’t do.”
But Andrew Bailey, a professor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s tourism center, told the Times Free Press that the city’s spending was smart.