City threatens to cut off Chamber funds

The City of Clarendon last week threatened to pull $20,000 in funding from the Chamber of Commerce unless the organization changes the way it does business within 90 days.

The Board of Aldermen had expressed concerns to Chamber Executive Director Judy Burlin in the past about how the Chamber accounts for money it receives from the city’s Motel Bed Tax, and those issues came to a head last Tuesday at the board’s regular meeting.

“We have been trying to tell [Judy] for months that she has to improve the record keeping,” Mayor Larry Hicks told the Enterprise. “Tax money has to be tracked penny for penny, and she has not kept track of it.”

The city gives the Chamber $5,000 per quarter from the Motel Bed Tax fund, and state laws dictate what types of expenditures the money can be used for.

City officials say the Chamber does not report specifically how the money is spent and also say that the Chamber has not kept the tax money in a strictly separate account but has been transferring some of that money to its general fund.

“We don’t feel like we’re getting the bang for our buck, but we don’t know for sure because we don’t know for certain where the money is going,” Hicks said.

New Chamber President Charlie Smith addressed last Tuesday’s city meeting and told the aldermen that the Chamber’s records were “a mess.” He also said Burlin was taking a leave of absence and that she had asked him to take over her duties.

Burlin told the Enterprise Monday that she was taking a leave until May 1 and said she knew the city wanted more financial information from the Chamber.

“I’ve been working with [City Secretary] Machiel Covey for about a month to get a more detailed report,” Burlin said. She also said the Chamber has a lot of young people on its board and that she expects the Chamber to have a good year.

Hicks said the city was pleased that Smith was taking over and that the board felt he would do a good job.

“It’s not that we don’t want a Chamber of Commerce. We do, but we want it to be operated correctly,” the mayor said.

Smith for his part says he thinks he can turn the Chamber around and keep its funding from the city.

“I think I can do enough in 90 days to warrant keeping it funded,” Smith told the Enterprise, noting that he hopes to grow the Chamber’s membership and do a better job of making the organization work for its members.

“We’ve got 63 members now, and I hope to have 100 members soon,” he said. “I want to show people they will benefit from being a member. We will make it worth your while to join. My primary goal is to get people here, because Clarendon is a great community and has a lot to offer.”

Smith says he will try to keep regular office hours downtown from 1 to 5 p.m. He welcomes ideas to improve the Chamber and asks people to leave a message if he’s not in the office.

In other city business, aldermen reviewed guidelines for other expenditures the city makes from the Motel Bed Tax; appointed Mayor Hicks as the city’s representative to the Chamber Tourism Committee; called an election for May 14 to elect a mayor and two aldermen; and began looking at designs for an official city logo.