The Escambia County Tourist Development Council received an earful at its Feb. 17 meeting about a frustrating bureaucratic problem — one that has forced Visit Pensacola to take out a line of credit just to keep the county’s tourism marketing operation running.
Who Pays the Interest?
TDC member David Bear put the issue squarely on the table: the Escambia County Clerk’s office is so slow in reimbursing Visit Pensacola’s expenses that the agency has been forced to maintain an operating line of credit to cover its cash flow. Bear didn’t mince words.
- “I think it’s incumbent on the county to ask the clerk to provide this information,” Bear said. “It’s literally taxing them. They’re paying interest on a loan to do marketing on behalf of the county. I just think this is ridiculous.”
Background: Visit Pensacola operates under a reimbursement model as part of the county’s unified budget — meaning the agency spends the money first, documents the expenses, submits invoices to the county’s Office of Management and Budget, and then waits for the clerk’s office to issue a check. According to the agency’s CEO, Darien Schaefer, the goal is to complete that full cycle within 45 days. That’s apparently not happening consistently.
- Dig Deeper: Childers has been called out previously for not paying bills. Last May, we received a spreadsheet listing over $1.13 million in unpaid amounts, including annual dues to the Northwest Florida Tourism Council and several local vendors. Read Invoice Impasse.
Back to Square One
Bear outlined several layers of dysfunction in the current process. When the clerk’s office rejects a reimbursement item, it often provides no explanation for why. Visit Pensacola then has to ask what was denied, wait for a response, get a spreadsheet of rejected items, and then resubmit—starting the clock all over again.
Meanwhile, Schaefer confirmed that when a payment comes in short of what was submitted, there is no accompanying explanation. His team finds out a check was cut on Wednesday, discovers it’s less than expected, and then has to make calls to find out what was rejected and why.
- “There isn’t,” Schaefer said flatly, when asked whether the short payment came with any explanation.
Bear also raised a specific dispute with the clerk’s office over advertising purchases. Visit Pensacola, like most marketing agencies, sometimes buys advertising in bulk and in advance to lock in better rates. The clerk’s office has taken the position that it won’t reimburse those purchases until after the ads actually run—a policy Bear says conflates two completely separate issues: sound marketing practice versus accounting recognition principles. The result is that Visit Pensacola might wait three to six months to be reimbursed for money it has already spent.
Pissing People Off
TDC member Mary Hoxeng, with a background in broadcasting, put a fine point on what slow pay means in the advertising world. If invoices aren’t paid within 60 days, she noted, the sales reps who handle those accounts lose their commissions — and they stop going to bat for Visit Pensacola. Worse, media outlets may eventually demand cash in advance.
- “You’re pissing people off across the country,” Hoxeng said bluntly.
TDC Chair Jason Nicholson pointed out that the contract between Visit Pensacola and the county actually spells out that invoices received by Wednesday at 5 p.m. shall be paid the following week, as long as there are no discrepancies.
- “It doesn’t sound like that’s happening,” Nicholson acknowledged
There was some cautious optimism. Schaefer reported that Visit Pensacola met with Clerk Pam Childers and her staff on Jan. 29, along with Commission Chair Ashlee Hofberger. The meeting apparently produced some movement—the clerk’s office has started flagging questions before issuing denials in some cases, giving Visit Pensacola a chance to provide additional documentation and avoid the full rejection cycle.
- Schaefer said his team is also now writing detailed narratives to accompany submissions to head off questions that have previously led to denials.
Operating in the Dark
Clerk Pam Childers operates out of the public view. There is no transparency. Businesses that question her actions are punished and forced to suffer through more delays and red tape.
- The Board of County Commissioners should hire an independent accounting firm to review the clerk’s procedures and compare them to the best practices of other Florida counties. We need a third party to investigate what’s happening.