SAFFORD — The graham County Chamber of Commerce made its case for a change in the way it is funded by the City of Safford, seeking a 15.6 percent increase in the amount of money the city allocates each year.
During a work session with the City Council on Monday, Chamber Executive Director Vance Bryce said his agency is requesting that, instead of receiving about 50 percent of the taxes collected by hotels, the city allocate to the chamber a flat rate of $15,000 a month over the next five years.
“The 50 percent that comes in from bed tax varies greatly. In normal times, it’s between $9,000 and $14,000. During COVID, it was as low as $3,000 for about six months,” Bryce said, adding the uncertainty of how much money coming in makes it difficult to plan and budget, and prevents the Chamber staff from receiving benefits.
While Mayor Jason Kouts suggested the Chamber should be asking for more to account for inflation over the next five years, Councilman Steve McGaughey questioned why Safford is being asked to shoulder the majority of funding.
“Where are the other government agencies?” McGaughey asked. “It seems like this keeps happening; we have to do an airport, we have to do a golf course and we have to do a library.”
He added that the city has increased its contribution through increased staff time dedicated to the Chamber’s events, as well as the waiving of fees for the Chamber.
Bryce said the Chamber is working on relationships with Thatcher and Pima, showing them how they can benefit from the Chamber and events in those communities.
City Manager John Cassella explained that the new contracted calls for increased expectations and reporting from the Chamber to the city, and City Attorney Bill Sims said the Graham County Chamber of Commerce is one of the most professionally run chambers in the state and the proposed contract is one of the most comprehensive he’s seen.
The City Council directed Cassella to bring the contract forward at a regular meeting for formal adoption.
