Members of the Carter County Commission accepted an audit report regarding tourism funding and honored several members of the community during the group’s meeting Tuesday night.
One of the items on the agenda Tuesday night was the county’s contract with the Elizabethton/Carter County Chamber of Commerce for the promotion and development of tourism. The funding which the county gives the chamber for tourism promotion comes from the hotel/motel tax collected within the county.
Under the terms of the contract, the Chamber was required to provide the county with a copy of its annual audit report by the end of October, however the audit was not complete at that time. In November, the Commission granted the Chamber an extension on the deadline and gave them until the group’s January meeting to provide the county with a copy of the audit.
The Chamber was able to meet the January deadline and the Commission discussed the audit report during Tuesday’s meeting. Because the Chamber of Commerce is under the umbrella of Carter County Tomorrow as a partner agency, the audit report covered all of CCT’s finances but also included a break out of strictly tourism funding, which is accounted for separately according to Chamber Director Tonya Stevens.
“I was tickled to see there were no material findings, which are the big ones,” Commissioner Mike Hill said.
Stevens noted one finding the auditors noted is the Chamber was not receiving reports of revenues coming in from the county. She said that issue has already been resolved and the Chamber is receiving regular reports regarding hotel/motel tax collections.
Some members of the Commission took issue with the fact the audit was for CCT and that the Chamber is still under the CCT umbrella.
Commissioner Charles VonCannon noted the audit report showed numerous findings against CCT and said he felt the tourism contract was contingent upon the findings of the audit. He added he feels the Chamber should come out from under the umbrella of CCT.
“This audit was a wreck, as far as I’m concerned,” VonCannon said.
Some Commissioners questioned whether the contract was contingent upon the audit findings and if the county could make the Chamber leave the CCT organization or provide an audit of the Chamber that did not include CCT.
County Attorney Josh Hardin weighed in on the issue.
“We can’t decide for them or make them break ties with Carter County Tomorrow,” Hardin said, adding because CCT was a blended entity he did not think the Chamber would be capable of producing an audit report that did not include some mention of CCT. “We’re not going to hold them to a standard they can’t meet.”
“Contractually they are required to submit an audit and they have done that,” Hardin added.
Several Commissioners express the opinion that the county’s history and litigation against CCT has no bearing on the county’s contract with the Chamber for tourism.
“I don’t think we need to punish the Chamber for anything Carter County Tomorrow has done or has not done,” Commissioner Timothy Holdren said.
Commissioner Al Meehan made a motion for the Commission to accept the audit report submitted by the Chamber as meeting their contractual obligation. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Dr. Robert Acuff and passed by a margin of 18 to 4 with Commissioners Ronnie Trivett, VonCannon, Larry “Doc” Miller, and Robert Carroll voting against accepting the audit report.
Carter County Mayor Leon Humphrey and the Commission also awarded special plaques to several members of the community to thank them for their hard work and dedication to the community.
Plaques were presented to the Elizabethton Fire Department as well as the Hampton, Stoney Creek, Watauga, Central, Elk Mills, and West Carter County Volunteer Fire Departments commending them for not only their service to the local community but for also volunteering to help battle the wildfire that devastated Sevier County in late November and early December.
“We are truly blessed to have men of this high caliber,” Humphrey said, adding the volunteer firefighters perform “countless heroic acts” to keep Carter County safe.
Carter County Emergency Management Agency Director Gary Smith said he recently spoke with the chief of the Gatlinburg Fire Department, who passed along his thanks and praise for all of those from Carter County who assisted them.
Elizabethton Fire Department Deputy Chief Rusty Barnett, who was one of the firefighters who travelled to Gatlinburg, also praised the efforts of the local firefighters, both in fighting that major disaster and also in serving local citizens.
“Our volunteers help us so much,” Barnett said of the volunteer departments. “We call on them all the time.”

Humphrey and the Commission also presented a plaque to the Elizabethton High School Betsy Band to congratulate them on capturing the state championship and to local child prodigy Carson Peters for his music accomplishments and community service.

In other business, the Commission passed three resolutions during the meeting.
The first was a resolution supporting the county’s work toward achieving ACT’s Certified Work Ready Community Designation. The second was a resolution honoring the service of U.S. Army Private Phillip Tolley, who was killed in action in World Ward II, and designating the bridge spanning the Little Doe River on Rittertown Road in Hampton as the “Private Phillip Tolley Memorial Bridge.”
The third was a resolution honoring the life of the late John Paul Mathes and designating a bridge over the Laurel Fork on Dennis Cove Road to be named the “John Paul Mathes Memorial Bridge.”