Chamber plan on visitors bureau may save $60,000

The Cape Girardeau City Council is considering a switch back that could possibly save the city $60,000 per year.

According to a budget proposal submitted at Monday night's meeting by Chamber of Commerce president John Mehner, the city could save $61,838 by having the chamber manage the city's Convention and Visitors Bureau. That amount could be high because it will take a year to determine the proper budget figure depending on the elimination of duplicated services between the chamber and CVB.

The city's 2002-2003 adopted budget for the CVB totals $461,838, while the chamber proposes a budget of $400,000.

While Mehner answered the council's questions Monday night, the council wasn't convinced the change should be made, at least not yet.

First, the CVB board will meet and discuss the proposal and then relay its opinions to the council.

Beyond that, there was some concern by the council over the job descriptions of the CVB and the overall accountability of the chamber.

Councilwoman Evelyn Boardman said she wanted to see specific job descriptions of a new CVB director. In the information provided by Mehner, the director would be "similar to the current sales/marketing manager title."

Mehner said Boardman would get the specific job descriptions before the next council meeting.

Councilwoman Marcia Ritter was more concerned about the controls in place, considering taxpayer money -- the CVB is funded by the restaurant and hotel/motel tax -- would be used.

"It's not so much how the money is spent, although that would be one area I'd want to look at," Ritter said. "But also to be able to evaluate what the results are. There needs to be certain goals set, and they need to be evaluated, especially if you're talking about a five-year contract."

Mehner said the reason he requested a five-year contract was because he thought it would be easier to hire a new CVB director if the position would be guaranteed for at least five years.

The contract provides for an annual submission by the chamber of a detailed financial statement, a list of projects accomplished by the CVB and a list of proposed projects. It also allows for an authorized representative of the city to inspect and audit all data and records. The contract also gives the city the right to terminate the agreement on or before June 1 of each year for any reason by giving written notice.

Under the contract, the chamber has agreed to retain all current CVB full-time employees for a period of one year, subject to evaluation thereafter.

The chamber originally had CVB authority from 1984 until June 1993, but the council took control of the organization to cut out the middle man.

In May, Terri Clark-Bauer resigned as CVB director. At that time, Mayor Jay Knudtson asked that the city look into contracting the CVB back to the chamber.

bmiller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127