In October, the Redmond Chamber of Commerce, which operates Visit Redmond, suggested a new partnership with the City of Redmond, requesting financial support in order to continue providing destination services and community events. On Dec. 10, Redmond City Council members addressed the proposal and provided the Council’s stance on funding the operations of private nonprofits.
The request for a new partnership, along with additional funding, came after the City decided to redirect the tourism tax dollars in June 2024 to a different agency, Watson Creative, to develop a more robust marketing effort. The Portland-based agency was selected through a request for proposals, which the Chamber did not respond to.
According to the Chamber, which received about $350,000 in tourism tax dollars from the City in the 2023-2024 fiscal year, the change in allocation created a gap in the services the Chamber can provide to visitors and community members. On Oct. 24, the Chamber sent the City of Redmond a proposal requesting $150,000 per year from the general fund — the same money used to fund police, transportation and parks — to ensure the continuation of its tourism services. Just a few days later, the Chamber sent out a press release stating that continued funding from the City would prevent the Chamber from having to cut services and events. As a result of the press release, Mayor Ed Fitch said at a Dec. 10 City Council meeting, the Council received comments and emails from residents, raising concerns about the City’s funding and partnership with Visit Redmond.
“First and foremost, the bottom line is that the City has not taken any money away from the Chamber,” Fitch said at the meeting.
According to Fitch, members of the Redmond City Council and the Chamber met in early November to discuss the proposal. “The Chamber was notified that there is no funding mechanism in the current budget for these purposes,” Fitch said. “The Chamber was also notified of the City Council’s general policy not to fund the operations of nonprofit organizations with taxpayer money.”
At the Dec. 10 meeting, Fitch also addressed the City’s issues with the Chamber’s October press release, noting that it was sent out without any notice or discussion with the Council.
“Partnership is built on trust, and what occurred in the last few months has really eroded a lot of that trust,” he said.
Last year, the City of Redmond terminated its contract with the Chamber, effective June 30, 2024, after an audit identified expenditures that did not qualify under state law for use of the transient lodging tax. In October, Visit Redmond’s Executive Director Eric Sande told the Source Weekly he’d never heard about the misappropriation of funds.
The Chamber’s previous contract with the City allowed it a percentage of the transient lodging tax, explained Fitch. Over the last 10 years, he said, the City provided the Chamber more than $2.7 million in room tax resources.
Sande did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication. At this time, it’s unclear whether the Chamber has paused or cut back on community events and services.
“We’re ready, willing and able to work with the Chamber to restore that trust, but it can’t be in this fashion,” Fitch said.
This article appears in Source Weekly December 19, 2024.
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