Estranged bedfellows battle

The county has stopped paying bed tax revenue to its former tourism agency.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A tug of war over a $600,000 pot of money is taking place between Mahoning County elected officials and a tourism group.
County commissioners and Auditor George Tablack say the Youngstown/Mahoning County Convention and Visitors Bureau has no right to spend the money and should hand it over to the county. But the CVB says it's not only keeping the money, it wants more.
Tablack has asked the Ohio Auditor's Office to help sort it all out.
"This is just mass confusion," Tablack said.
The situation
Commissioners created the CVB in 1986 to promote travel and tourism in the county. Its funding came from a 3-percent lodging tax that is paid by people who stay at the county's 32 hotels and motels. The tax brings in about $450,000 a year.
In October, commissioners voted to stop giving bed tax revenue to the CVB. Instead, 2 percent now goes toward operation of the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport and 1 percent is given to a new visitors' bureau, made up mostly of county officials.
By law, bed tax revenue must be used for tourism-related expenses.
Over the past few years, the CVB had set aside about $600,000, which it had planned to use toward the cost of a convocation center in Youngstown, if one ever were built.
Now that its funding source has been cut off, commissioners say the CVB is no longer a viable organization and should hand over that money to them and the new board.
"That $600,000 should not even be in question," Commissioner Vicki Allen Sherlock said at a recent commissioners' meeting. "Those are taxpayer dollars and should be handed over."
Lawsuit
She's upset that the CVB is using some of the money to pay lawyers for a lawsuit the CVB filed against commissioners last year, contesting a new Ohio law that opened the door for reallocation of the bed tax revenue. The suit is pending in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.
It was filed in Columbus because Gov. Bob Taft is named as a defendant. Prosecutor Paul Gains has filed a motion asking that the suit be dismissed.
Atty. Lawrence Richards, CVB president, said the board is indeed paying its legal expenses from the $600,000.
"We have no other revenue, other than those funds," Richards said. "We certainly think that's a legitimate purpose."
Even though its funding has been cut off, Richards said the board continues to operate in a scaled-back mode. It still buys billboards promoting the county, books bus tours to the area, and maintains a telephone line to provide travel information to prospective visitors.
"We want to continue marketing and promoting our area," Richards said.
Payment demanded
He recently sent a letter to Tablack demanding payment of bed tax revenue for July, August and September 2003, which he says is due the CVB. Tablack has held off, and Richards has threatened to seek a court order forcing Tablack to pay.
"Our position is that we are not a defunct organization and we are entitled to that money," Richards said. "[Commissioners] cut off our funding, but they have no control over us."
Tablack had held up payment because he doesn't believe it's warranted because commissioners no longer recognize the CVB as the county's tourism agency. He's also confused by what he says are conflicting commissioners' resolutions.
When they passed a resolution Oct. 9 stripping the CVB of its funding, commissioners passed another resolution instructing the county administrator to begin the process of recovering any money being held by the panel.
"Why would we give them money, then turn around and try to take it back," Tablack said.
Tablack said he doesn't believe the CVB has authority to act as a visitors bureau, so it should not receive any more tax money.
Who keeps the money?
The money the CVB has is another story.
Tablack sought a legal opinion from Gains, who instructed Tablack to pay the money. Gains said the CVB is entitled to the funding because it was collected before the commissioners' reallocation vote.
If the CVB took Tablack to court, it would probably win, and the county would be on the hook for legal expenses, Gains said.
"It is our considered opinion that they are entitled to any money prior to October," Gains said. "The problem is that there is no law saying we are going to get it back. It's not clear cut."
That's why he suggested that Tablack enlist the state auditor's office to help sort out whether the CVB can legally hold on to the money since it is no longer recognized as a public body.
"There is no law on this either way," Gains said. "We're going to be making law here."
Richards said he's not sure how much the payment will be, but guessed it would be more than $150,000. He said July and August are historically the most active months for tourism, so they generally account for about one-third of the overall annual bed tax receipts.
He said the CVB hopes to cling to life at least until 2005, when two new commissioners should be in office. Sherlock and Commissioner Ed Reese are not seeking re-election when their terms expire Dec. 31, 2004.
"Maybe those new commissioners will see things differently and want to keep us around instead of using that money to fund the airport," he said.
bjackson@vindy.com