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Auditor withholding funds, tourism board complains
Tourism officials said they couldn’t contact the city auditor.
SALEM — The Salem Tourism Advisory Board wants its money, but city Auditor James Armeni isn’t paying.
David K. Schwartz, a member of the board, told council Wednesday night that the board has asked for money on two occasions.
“There is no flood of funds from the auditor’s office,” Schwartz said.
The board’s money comes from a bed tax on motels and can be spent as the board sees fit, he added.
One funding request is for $2,500 to pay bills from the hot rod SuperNats that occur in Salem each summer. Another is for $1,500 to print T-shirts for motorcycle riders who visit various restaurants in an upcoming Turkey Trot, where motorcyclists go to various locations.
Schwartz said the SuperNats bring in about 30,000 people a year who eat, drink, and shop in Salem.
Schwartz left the meeting after airing his complaint.
Armeni told council he had two purchase orders. One was for Custom Images and another was for the Turkey Trot.
“I never heard of a Turkey Trot,” Armeni said.
Armeni said he was concerned that one of the tourism board members had a business deal with the business that runs the SuperNats.
He said that he believed the Turkey Trot may promote alcohol, which he said would be an inappropriate use of money.
Barb Weikart-Kuder, a tourism board member, said that efforts to reach the auditor had failed.
The T-shirts don’t promote alcohol use, she added.
She said the city had failed to collect bed taxes on time from the Timberlanes motel when it went into receivership, which left a $2,500 hole in the overall tourism budget this year.
“Why they are trying to prevent us from trying to bring in business is beyond me,” she said.
Councilman Justin Palmer had helped create new legislation in 2006 when new rules were created to help develop tourism. Those included council oversight to monitor the tourism bureau’s activities.
Palmer wasn’t sure if tourism and council officials have been meeting but noted he would meet with tourism officials to help sort out the dispute.
wilkinson@vindy.com