WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) – Wausau’s Finance Committee and Hotel Room Tax Committee may end a contract with the Wausau Convention and Visitors Bureau after the agency was accused of improperly collecting room tax money from the online travel site Expedia.
The Wausau Pilot and Review reports CVB Executive Director Richard Barrett contacted Expedia directly, and the web site gave him hotel rooms tax money that would have otherwise been paid to the city. Wausau did not get a payment from Expedia in June. It was paid directly to the Convention and Visitors Bureau. The CVB had collected Expedia payments from other area municipalities as well.
The city’s agreement does not call for the CVB to collect the room tax money directly. The city committees meet at 5:30 Thursday, and will go into closed session to debate the situation.
The Marathon County Sheriff’s Department was asked to investigate the missing payments. Last month a ‘theft by fraud’ investigation was opened. The investigating deputy determined the matter was a lack of communication between the CVB and the municipalities it partners with. The investigation has since been closed. Rothschild has since discontinued its rooms tax agreement with the group.
The Pilot and Review reports the Convention and Visitors Bureau refunded money to Mosinee and Rothschild that was collected from Expedia, and offered Wausau a partial refund in June and an additional payment in July.
The Convention and Visitors Bureau hasn’t commented publicly.
The missing money comes at a time when room tax money is down sharply because of COVID-19 travel restrictions. Groups that depend on that money for tourism-related events will likely see dramatic funding cuts.
