Katrina’s fallout gets blame.

An uncertain period of revenue collections is something the Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau will need to deal with, said Norman Ford, director of business and operations for Compass of Vicksburg.

Ford told board members of the tourism development agency Thursday that October’s check from the state was down $50,000 from October 2005.

In precise figures, $119,404.99 was last year’s check, and this year’s was $70,169.37.

&#8220This does not portend well for the future,” Ford said in his report.

The state Tax Commission calculates the amount due based on the local 1 percent tax added to sales at restaurants, motels and bars. Board members rarely know the precise periods covered by the checks, but speculated Hurricane Katrina, which hit at the end of last August and filled local motels through September, was likely a factor.

The revenue represents most of the money the 11-member city-county agency has to spend on recruiting tourists and promoting tourism development. There are no allocations of local tax funds, but the agency often receives state supplemental grants.

Although Thursday’s meeting was the last official meeting of the board for the year, chairman Nelda Sampey said members will meet once again in December to discuss and approve the budget for the coming year. No date for that meeting was announced.

Ford, who also serves on the Budget Committee, one of eight committees the board established in September, said he and fellow committee members are waiting to get &#8220a better picture” of the tourism tax before projecting on the budget. His employer, Compass, is the VCVB’s contract management firm.

&#8220It doesn’t matter what you want to spend,” he said. &#8220It matters what you collect. We’ll have a better picture before our next meeting.”

In other business, the Lodging and Restaurant Committee has recently started highlighting area attractions and events on TV-23 to entice people staying in hotels to &#8220get out and around Vicksburg,” said board member Lori Burke.

Colleen May, senior sales and marketing executive for the tourism bureau, said the Tourism and Attractions Committee, on which she serves, has met and discussed printed materials, such as rack cards and Vicksburg’s Visitors Guide. Committee members of the five other committees had nothing to report.

The board also heard from VCVB staff member Mary Anderson, who reported that the visitor information centers had 4,774 visitors in October, which was up from last year’s 4,000. The total number of international visitors was also up to 124 compared to last year’s 78.

After the budget session, the board will meet again at 5 p.m. Jan. 25 at the Vicksburg Convention Center.

Board meets candidates for VCVB board.

By Danny Barrett Jr.

A prospective member of the Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau board met informally with Warren County supervisors Thursday, who also met with another possible choice for the position.

David Day, owner of Horseface Harry’s and Klondyke restaurants, had face-to-face introduction to the board. He has been identified by District 4 Supervisor Carl Flanders as his choice for one of two vacant slots.

Earlier, Flanders had said he would tap Harry Sharp, owner of The Duff Green Mansion and a former VCVB board member, but backed away after learning Sharp had a tentative landlord-tenant relationship with the VCVB.

Day indicated he was generally satisfied with how the board received him. An attorney general’s opinion may be sought on whether Sharp is ineligible due to a possible conflict of interest. People serving on public boards and agencies may not do business with those boards. In some cases, state law extends the prohibition for one year after a business relationship ends.

&#8220I may draft the letter myself,” Flanders said, bypassing the usual step of directing Board Attorney Paul Winfield to do so.

In June, Sharp entered into a lease with the VCVB allowing the tourism agency’s staff to move into an office space he owns at 1300 Washington St. The move allowed the agency to resume business after it was forced from its offices at Washington and Clay after the nearby Thomas Furniture building collapsed in January.

Despite assurances from various legal sources that the agreement was of a &#8220temporary and pre-existing” nature, Flanders said earlier in the week he would withdraw Sharp from consideration due to the appearance of impropriety.

Thursday, he reiterated enthusiastic support for both Sharp and Day, calling them both &#8220excellent” possible additions to the 11-member board.

Of the 11 members, five are city appointees, five are county appointees and one person is jointly appointed. Terms are four years and commission members are not paid.

Seats open are Flanders’ appointee and that of District 2 Supervisor William Banks.

Banks has twice nominated former city appointee Bobbie Bingham Morrow, only to see both attempts fail to win board approval, which, an attorney general’s opinion says, is required.

Banks has declined to make another nomination other than Morrow, who, unlike the past four members named to the board, was not placed on a list of suggested candidates circulated to elected officials by the Vicksburg Warren Community Alliance.

Unlike the VCVB, whose official actions are determined by individuals appointed by elected officials, the Alliance is a self-formed group that has acted as a liaison organization between governments and other private groups.

This year, it has favored more VCVB seats being filled by owners and operators of local tourism-related enterprises. Morrow was not reappointed by the city when her term ended in June, ostensibly because she and others were not responsive to their advice.

The District 4 seat on the VCVB has been held by attorney Bobby Bailess, who has been chosen president of the Mississippi Bar Association and declined another term.