Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Any allegations concerning the Greater Marshall Chamber of Commerce's use of Convention and Visitor Development funds need to be reported to the Harrison County District Attorney's office, Mayor Ed Smith said Monday.

"The city has to review how the chamber is expending those dollars," he said. "The first and foremost thing is all must be spent (in) what's allowed in Chapter 351 (of the Texas Tax Code) – not beyond that."

"Any allegations ... they need to file a complaint – not with the city, but the DA's office. That's abuse of funds," he said.

The CVD bureau is solely operated by funds received from the hotel/motel occupancy tax. The city of Marshall contracts with the chamber to provide the services.