The Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce recently borrowed against a money market certificate to meet payroll while awaiting $40,900 owed by Manatee County.
The chamber may have to again borrow money if the county commission doesn’t approve a contract this week between the chamber and the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau for the chamber’s use as a tourist information center.
Chamber president Mary Ann Brockman said the contract was to be on the county commission agenda this month.
“If approved, it would still take 30 to 45 days for us to get at least some of the money owed,” Brockman said.
Because the chamber acts as a tourist information center for Manatee County, expenses such as postage and rent have been paid by the BACVB since 2002, according to a verbal agreement the chamber had with then-BACVB executive director Larry White. That changed in November 2010, when county attorneys said a contract was needed to account for the funds.
It’s taken nearly seven months to get a contract prepared that both sides agree with, Brockman noted.
The chamber has received no payments from the BACVB since contract negotiations began in November, and last month was forced to borrow against its money market account to meet payroll. The chamber’s postage and rent generally exceed $4,000 monthly, and those expenses have been paid from chamber funds since last November, Brockman said.
And it’s a “definite possibility” the chamber might have to again borrow against the account to meet future payrolls, she said.
But BACVB executive director Elliott Falcione has promised Brockman to “fast-track” the contract through the county bureaucracy if the commission approves it. That would get at least some of what’s owed to the chamber quickly, she said.
“We might get at least what’s owed from November and December quickly,” Brockman said. “I’m optimistic.”
In other chamber news, the planned summer luau was canceled, Brockman said.
“It wasn’t a financial issue, we just couldn’t find a chairperson for the event,” she said. The previous chair recently took a new job and did not have enough time to devote to organizing the event.
“It wasn’t an annual event, it was just something we wanted to do for this summer,” said Brockman.
She added that the planned November cruise to the western Caribbean is in jeopardy because no one has made a reservation.
The cruise is scheduled for Nov. 12-17 out of Tampa and will visit locations such as Grand Cayman and Cancun.
The required deposit is $100 per person and the chamber needs to make its reservation deposit of $3,200 by July 1 to guarantee the reduced rate offered by the cruise line.
Brockman said the cabins on the main deck are $649 per person, double occupancy, while lower-level cabins are $449 per person, double occupancy.
“Anybody can go. It’s not limited to just chamber members,” she said.