EDITORIAL: Should Albany Convention & Visitors Bureau be independent?

It is, indeed, curious to address a major change for an agency that, by all accounts, is not a problem. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is a well-worn phrase that has lost its vigor to common usage, through the underlying wisdom is intact.

Still, that is what the Albany City Commission, in a low-key manner, is looking to do with the Albany Convention & Visitors Bureau.

City Manager Sharon Subadan, at the request of some members of the City Commission, asked the Carl Vinson Institute of Government to take a look at the Albany CVB and its operations. The findings: All indications are that the CVB, under the direction of Director Rashelle Beasley, is doing its job well and making good use of the hotel/motel tax that funds it as it promotes Albany.

Ted Baggett, with the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, told city commissioners Tuesday that the CVB is following best practices and is employing a “high level of compliance” with the financial arrangement of utilizing hotel/motel taxes to fund its operations. The one remark Baggett had about funding was that it has been flat over previous years and that it might be in the city’s best interests to set up a percentage funding plan that would create incentive for the CVB.

Of the nearly $2 million collected in hotel/motel taxes, the CVB receives $725,000 — around 36 percent — to fund promoting and marketing the city as a tourism destination. According to Beasley in a column for our Outlook section earlier this year, in 2015 Dougherty County generated more than $233 million in direct travel spending, which she said translates to supporting 2,134 jobs and the generation of $7 million in local tax revenues. The average Dougherty County household receives $463 in tax relief attributable to tourist dollars, she said.

Currently, the CVB is doing this as an arm of the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce, and it appears that the system in place is working well. What the city of Albany is exploring is whether to convert the CVB to a 501 (c) (6) organization, a nonprofit agency designation for business-related entities such as business leagues, chambers of commerce, real estate boards, boards of trade and others. Organizations under the designation are allowed to engage in some political activities, such as trying to influence legislation that is in the best interests of its mission, and it can receive contributions from corporations, individuals and unions to help fund its work. As part of an organization that is under that designation already, there would be no great adjustment needed for the CVB.

So while the function and mission would not change, what would change would be a level of oversight. In fact, Baggett told city commissioners that an independent CVB should not be too closely aligned with any group, including the city government. The reason, we would think, is the bureau should be focused on its mission — to bring people to Albany to sleep in Albany hotels and motels, to eat at Albany restaurants and to patronize Albany businesses.

While there isn’t an urgent need for such a fundamental change, the questions commissioners should ask themselves are these:

— Has the CVB matured to the point where it can function well as an independent agency?

— If converted to an independent agency, would that create a situation in which the CVB could better serve its mission?

If the answers to both are yes, then it is time for the CVB to leave its nest and soar.