A resolution passed by the Robertson County Commission in March may alter a primary funding source for the White House Chamber of Commerce.

Resolution Number 031510014, presented to county commissioners by the county's Industrial Development Board (IDB) on March 15, proposes a change to the Hotel/Motel Privilege Tax Private Act of 1990. Under the current language, two-fifths of the monies collected from the 5% privilege tax can be granted to the cities where the hotel operates, to be used for "industrial and economic development and tourism promotion."

Eligible city governments are to submit an application and plan of expenditure to the IDB, who then distribute the grants. The resolutions removes the language providing for the city grants, and directs all monies to the Industrial Development Board "to be used for industrial and economic development and tourism promotion in Robertson County."

Mayor Decker's open letter concerning the Hotel Tax change - click to read.

According to Don Eden, chairman of the IDB, the wording in the original act was written specifically to include only White House in the revenue. "Back when it was enacted, (former WH mayor) Dr. Hobbs influenced its crafting so that only White House would be eligible to receive a grant," Eden said on Friday.

The deleted portion includes this provision - "An amount not to exceed two-fifths (2/5) of the net proceeds of the tax collected within the boundaries of cities with a population of not less than two thousand (2,000) nor more than two thousand five hundred (2,500) according to the 1980 federal census, or any subsequent federal census, in Robertson County shall be available to such cities to be used for economic development and tourism promotion." Eden pointed out that at the time, the only municipality that fit that description in Robertson County was White House.

White House has used this income to help fund the White House Chamber of Commerce and other economic development and tourism events since 1990. The city had budgeting $45,000 for this line item for the current fiscal year, with $26,500 of that slated to go to the Chamber.

The city's contribution to the Chamber is roughly one-third of the organizations total operating budget - a loss of those funds would seriously hamper the Chamber's ability to serve the community. Eden called this use of the grant "ideal," and pledged to make sure that the WH Chamber continues to receive funding; however, he said that the city's other uses of the funds - on holiday celebrations, fireworks, and parades - have drawn the ire of county leaders for years, along with a contribution by the city to the organization Forward Sumner.

"The political and financial pressures from the the county commissioners on the IDB were tremendous," Eden said, "and with the change of the makeup of the current Commission, the time had finally come for a change." Eden said that his was the lone vote against the new proposal from the Industrial Development Board - a proposal carried before the county legislators by Commissioner Raymond Francis and presented by IDB board member Roger Blackwood.

What troubles city leaders and members of the local business community, though, is not just the resolution and its possible ramifications, but the fact that no one in White House leadership was made aware of the proposal beforehand.

"We had no idea that any changes were being proposed at all," said Angie Carrier, city administrator for White House. "In fact, we didn't know about the resolution until two weeks after it passed, and that came from an anonymous source."

Chamber director Julie Bolton echoed the sentiment. "Had we known this was up for consideration, I would have been there, my board members would have been there, and other city leaders would have been there to participate in the discussion," Bolton said.

County mayor Howard Bradley said that the agenda for March's session had gone out a week before the commission meeting.

"This discussion goes back for a while," Bradley said Thursday. "The landscape has changed since the tax was first enacted - there are more hotels in Springfield and other parts of Robertson County now."

The resolution "requests that the legislative representatives of said County assist in the passage to said Private Act by the Tennessee General Assembly to adopt these changes," meaning that State Representative Joshua Evans would need to introduce the change to the state legislature for consideration. If passed at the state level, the measure returns to Robertson County for one more vote.

Rep. Evans met with White House city and chamber members last Tuesday, after being contacted by the city about the proposal and lack of communication about its passage.

"We have not submitted anything yet," Evans confirmed on Thursday. "We are scheduling another meeting with the city officials and with Senator (Diane) Black next week to discuss some possible alternatives." Eden also plans on attending this meeting, and hopes to work out a change that would benefit all the municipalities in the county.

"We're not going to do anything that might hurt White House or its Chamber of Commerce," Evans added. "That is my only goal."

(Editor's note: More to come on this story - the Easter holiday has limited the amount of information available this week.)