With a new president taking over at the Chattanooga Convention and Visitors Bureau, some leaders at local arts and cultural organizations are hoping to start talks on sharing the wealth from Hamilton County’s hotel-motel tax.
The idea started with county Commissioner Tim Boyd, who believes the CVB can market Chattanooga and Hamilton County as a tourism and convention destination for far less than it now spends. The 4 percent county tax is projected to raise about $8.2 million this year for the visitors bureau.
In early January, Boyd invited leaders of 15 arts and cultural organizations ranging from the Association for Visual Arts to the Tennessee Aquarium to a meeting where he unveiled his “75-25 Plan.” He said he was “shocked” when 45 people showed up for the meeting, where he proposed raking off a quarter of the 2019 projected lodging tax receipts – a bit more than $2.1 million – for capital and community projects. That would leave nearly $6.5 million for the CVB’s use.
Sharing some of the funds would “use the money as the state legislators wanted it to be used in the first place and be transparent and accountable for every dime you invest,” said Boyd, who took on the CVB last year over its spending, management and lack of transparency. A Tennessee Comptroller’s Office investigation documented some of his concerns, and the organization implemented some reforms.
A second meeting was held Jan. 31 to talk about ideas and formulate a presentation, he said, and then he handed the whole thing over to the arts and cultural groups.