Dear editor, I am a taxpayer who is irate over the already-bloated budget of CVEDS (Comox Valley Economic Development Society), and appalled to read of the latest increase.As a widow on a fixed income, I am constantly looking at ways to live within my means, as I鈥檓 sure are many other taxpayers.Have the politicians who endorsed this budget increase lost complete touch with who they are elected to represent? Or do they feel that because they are early in their terms that they do not have to worry about consequences? This is not the first time that people have expressed concerns about how CVEDS funds are spent. Why do these concerns continue to fall on deaf ears?As a former DND pay officer, I understand accountability. As a taxpayer I now feel a full audit is overdue. I am asking my regional director, Jim Gillis, for answers. As a person with forensic audit experience I鈥檇 love to see these books! CVEDS is stating that they have budgeted $390,000 for staff costs. In looking at their website, I see listed a total of six staff.How does one get hired onto this gravy train? An average of $66,000 per person is a pretty lucrative salary. What exactly are the job descriptions that warrant this remuneration? While on the CVEDS website I also noticed that they still have a directory listing called Olympic Opportunities. And under News at Glance the most recent posting was from March 2011. I presume none of the extremely well-paid staff know how to update a website. Several years ago CVEDS took over the responsibility of destination marketing from the now-defunct CVT (Comox Valley Tourism), the idea being that this would be more cost-efficient and better for the tourism industry.In their last year of operation (2007), CVT had received less than $100,000. It was not feasible for CVT to continue with this level of funding and the board made the difficult decision to cease operating.What happened to the promise of cost-efficiency and improved tourism promotions? Given the astronomical increase in the CVEDS budget since 2008, perhaps the function of destination marketing should be put out to public tender? Until this year the CV Chamber provided tourism information services for somewhere around $100,000. I believe this included wages, rent and utilities.We are told that the cost to pay the management company to operate the new visitor centre is $236,000. This is in addition to other expected overheads, bank charges, and insurance totalling $120,000. I have to wonder about the economic benefits of this new visitor centre. Given this age of technology and most people travelling with their mobile devices, how many visitors will not already have booked their accommodation and activities prior to arriving in the area?Seriously, do you really expect enough people to stop in at that site to generate enough revenue to even come close to meeting costs? Other questions and concerns I feel all taxpayers need clear answers to:鈥� A full accounting of expenditures, details and outcomes of destination marketing trips taken by staff and directors in the past five years. Yes, this is a small town 鈥� word gets around. There seems to have been a lot of travel at taxpayers' expense and we taxpayers need to see the cost-benefit analysis. 鈥� What are the performance metrics of this destination marketing? I have my suspicions that these trips are considered perks. Prove me wrong before even thinking of gouging me for more tax dollars. 鈥� How much employment and investment has been created as a direct result of CVEDS in the past five years? Give specific examples. 鈥� Do the tourism operators feel they are getting value for the money being spent? Once again 鈥� remember this is a very small town. Taxpayers and business owners, both small and large, have all had to do belt tightening over the past few years. This publicly funded organization should be no different. Politicians, please take heed. Taxpayers showed very clearly what they were capable of on the issue of the HST. Please don鈥檛 think we are going to lie down and ignore this potential waste of our precious, hard-earned tax contributions.K. Simpson,Comox Valley
