Hamilton County Commissioner Tim Boyd wants the Chattanooga Convention and Visitors Bureau to use county purchasing and travel policies.
On Wednesday, Boyd introduced a resolution requiring any nonprofit organization that receives county money exceeding 25 percent of its annual operating budget to not only adopt those policies, but also have a county commissioner serve on its board.
He cited the CVB, an agency he has repeatedly criticized in recent months, as an example.
"There shouldn't be any problem with an organization adopting either of those policies, and there shouldn't be any issue with a commissioner sitting on the board of those organizations receiving that significant amount of money," Boyd said.
At least 80 percent of CVB funding comes from the county. The other 20 percent includes state money and membership fees.
The organization has received 100 percent of the county's hotel-motel tax revenues for the last 10 years. In 2017, that amounted to $7.8 million. The figure is projected to reach $8.2 million in 2018, according to the latest county budget proposal.
The CVB has projected it will bring in $1.1 billion in tourism this year.
The resolution also calls for affected organizations to annually provide copies of "all financial documents and records" related to income and expenses to the county commission.
For months, Boyd has pushed for the CVB to publicly release its financial "working papers," which officials say are protected under state law.
In April, CVB President and CEO Bob Doak told commissioners he could not do that because of concerns of losing a competitive edge against tourism agencies in other cities.
Boyd has questioned Doak about more than $300,000 on travel-related expenses in fiscal 2014, citing the CVB's income tax return. Doak countered the CVB only spent $120,000 on travel that year.
The CVB sometimes has to go outside the South to bring in events and conferences, even if most of the city's visitors come from withing a 150-mile range, Doak said.
Doak could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Boyd has also said he would like to cut the agency's revenue stream and put the money to other tourism uses.
The commission votes on Boyd's measure on June 21, the same day it is scheduled to vote on the fiscal 2018 budget.
In other business, Commissioner Joe Graham revisited the commission's recent discussion on what to do with the county's certified tax rate.
The state is expected to certify a new tax rate in August so the county's recent property reappraisal will not - by law - result in more or less property tax revenue for Hamilton County. Local governments are not allowed to earn more tax dollars just because property values go up after a reappraisal.
The Hamilton County Commission can, however, increase or lower the rate after it approves the state-certified rate.
County Mayor Jim Coppinger voiced frustration on the matter, citing individual conversations he had with each commissioner prior to presenting the 2018 budget proposal last week. An "overwhelming majority" of commissioners told him they could not support a tax increase or resetting the tax rate to its existing level, he said.
If the county commission re-adopts the existing property tax rate of $2.7652 per $100 of assessed value, it would bring in an estimated $25 million in additional revenue, officials said.
"This is something we can't just make a decision on a whim or a quick phone call," Graham said. "The mayor did call me, we did discuss this, and I'll be the first to tell you that in the first phone call I had with the mayor, I was dead-set against it, because I didn't understand what we were talking about."
Graham said he does not necessarily advocate for making any tax rate adjustments. He committed to presenting his colleagues with funding scenarios based on keeping the existing tax rate in the near future.
Contact staff writer Paul Leach at 423-757-6481 or pleach@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @pleach_tfp.