Setting the record straight about the chamber of commerce
Commentary by Carol Waller
Since there have recently been some letters to the editor about the Sun
Valley/Ketchum Chamber of Commerce, we thought it was important to once again share some
information about our organization.
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The mission of the Sun Valley/Ketchum Chamber of Commerce is to
"promote tourism and economic development while protecting the area’s unique
quality of life.
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The chamber staff does an excellent job carrying out the program of work
determined by the Chamber Board of Directors. The board consists of 25 volunteer members
who meet monthly to monitor financial and organizational performance, and determine
policies. A representative from the Ketchum and Sun Valley city councils serve on the
chamber board in an ex-officio (non-voting) capacity to provide additional oversight.
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The chamber's programs are funded through a combination of public and
private sector funds. The cities of Ketchum and Sun Valley and the Idaho Department of
Commerce contract with the chamber to provide marketing and visitor information services.
If the chamber did not perform these services, the cities would have to provide them, and
likely at a much higher cost.
The funding we receive from the cities is from the tourism-based Local
Option Tax (an additional sales tax on retail, lodging, liquor), and the funding we
receive from the Idaho Department of Commerce/Idaho Travel Council is from a statewide
lodging tax. Public sector funding is 65 percent of our budget, whereas in most cities the
convention and visitors bureau (CVB) is 80-100 percent publicly funded.
The city councils determine how the LOT funds are spent each year during a
public budget process. Currently the cities reinvest 20-25 percent of the total Local
Option revenues into marketing and visitor information programs. The 75-80 percent balance
of the tourism-based LOT funds (over $3 million annually) are used for a variety of
special infrastructure projects (buildings, parks, roads, bike paths, landscaping,
parking, etc.) and services (fire, police, KART, etc.)
If visitors did not generate 70 percent of the LOT funds, all these
projects and services would have to be funded through increased property taxes on local
residents. Because of the LOT, the property tax rate in Ketchum and Sun Valley has
actually continued to decrease.
The chamber's funding has increased in the last five years, but
competition in the ski industry has also increased dramatically during that same period,
so it is costing more and more just to hold our own. The majority of our promotions are
targeted to winter, spring and fall, when our tourism business is the slowest.
Private sector businesses and organizations, including American Express,
and 555-plus chamber members, purchase additional promotion by paying membership dues,
sponsoring programs and events, or donating in-kind goods and services.
The chamber has been criticized for promoting the Sun Valley Resort,
especially for using "Ketchum" city funding for cooperative promotional efforts.
Our promotion is geared towards the entire Ketchum/Sun Valley product. It is no different
that the Orlando CVB including Disney World in their promotions.
It is also important to consider that Sun Valley Resort spends several
million dollars each year attracting visitors, and those visitors then also frequent many
other local businesses, especially in Ketchum, thereby generating additional sales tax
revenues for the city of Ketchum.
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The chamber board includes a CPA, bank president and managers and owners
of small to multi-million dollar businesses. Our staff does an outstanding job tracking,
managing and accounting for our expenditures under a very complicated and comprehensive
reporting system.
Financial reports are reviewed and approved by the board of directors
monthly and by our funding partners at least quarterly, with an audit/CPA review conducted
at the end of the fiscal year. We go through an annual grant and contract services request
process with our funding partners each year, and all of this budget information is
available for public review.
We are a progressive chamber, always looking for new ways to do things
better and we welcome constructive feedback. As an organization with diverse
"stakeholders," many of our decisions are made through a democratic and
consensual process. It’s not always easy, but we try our best to accommodate
different points of view on many complex issues.
If you have any questions about the chamber, anyone of us on the board or
staff would be more than happy to talk with you.
Carol Waller is the executive director of
the Ketchum/Sun Valley Chamber of Commerce
