By Dewey Terrill
JC Post
Geaty County Commissioners voted Monday to pay the Junction City Area Chamber of Commerce the rest of their appropriated quarterly funds for the year and to seek a joint meeting with the city commission on the Chamber.
Commissioners heard a report from Chamber officials Monday on the proposed structure of the organization going forward.
Interim President of Operations Ashley King explained because the EDC and MAC receive public funds meaningful input from the city and county are needed, clearly defined expectations, regular reporting and transparent financial mnagement. "We recognize that changes are needed, particularly around accountability, financial transparency and roles and strategic planning." King also noted that the Chamber structure doesn't need to be dismantled. "We need to change how it was managed, how decisions are made, how finances are reported."
There are currently 17 members on the Chamber board, which King admiited officials feel is a large number. A strategic planning workshop for the Chamber is scheduled Nov. 18-19 and help with that is sought from the City and County.
Up to now the City and County have been reimbursing receipt items for the Chamber. The current master agreement runs until Dec. 31. "We don't feel that the master agreement was broken but needed some tweaking on accountability." She asked the commissioners to allow 2027 to be a rebuilding tear for the Chamber to make changes and demonstrate the results. They feel a president of operations is needed but there is no plan to hire an EDC director right now. A company is being considered to help with site visits.
Work continues to sort through financial records but it is proving tedious. Commissioners heard for example that the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce has seven categories for their budget while the chamber in Junction City is down ro 165. "Our accountant is having to go through each one of those, open up that one, figure out what other categories are under that one", explained King. Initially there were more than 200 categories to which budget items were reallocated.
A need for more checks and balances was emphasized during the discussion.
A similar presentation is scheduled to go the Junction City Commission Tuesday night.