Hamilton County isn’t the only government to give more scrutiny to the Chattanooga Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Two auditors from the state Comptroller of the Treasury office arrived on June 14 at the CVB’s office on the top floor of the 18-story SunTrust tower downtown to look through files, crunch numbers and talk with CVB officials.
“The results of our review will hopefully be released within the next few months,” said John Dunn, spokesman for the comptroller’s office. “For clarification, this is not an investigation. It is an audit that we are statutorily obligated to perform.”
The comptroller’s auditors came to Chattanooga because state Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, got Tennessee law changed to require the state comptroller to audit the CVB. Gardenhire said in March he was inspired to do so after he attended the CVB’s annual luncheon, which Gardenhire described then as “very lavish.”
“I think accountability is important,” Gardenhire said Friday. “The taxpayers need complete transparency and accountability. That goes for any group receiving a large amount of taxpayer money.”