MS 2023-08-J-Brady-August-17-2023-Columbus-Lowndes-Convention-and-Visitors-Bureaus-Funding- August 17, 2023

Can a Mississippi convention and visitors bureau pay a nonprofit foundation to operate a tourism welcome center?

Short answer: Yes. The Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau, created by 2011 House Bill 1552, may provide funding to the Columbus Cultural Heritage Foundation for the operation of the Tennessee Williams Welcome Center. The bureau's enabling act expressly authorizes contributions for visitor information centers and the maintenance of buildings owned by nonprofits that promote tourism in the area.

Disclaimer: This is an official Mississippi Attorney General opinion. AG opinions are persuasive authority but not binding precedent. This summary is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Consult a licensed Mississippi attorney for advice on your specific situation.

Subject

CVB Funding to Nonprofit Operating a Visitor Center

Recipient

John D. Brady, Esq., Attorney, Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau

Plain-English summary

The Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau was created by 2011 House Bill 1552. The Columbus Cultural Heritage Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, owns the Tennessee Williams Welcome Center in Columbus and is responsible for maintaining, repairing, and restoring the center while also fostering tourism in the area. The bureau's attorney asked the AG, at the Mississippi Ethics Commission's direction, whether the bureau has authority to fund the foundation.

The AG said yes. Under Golding v. Salter (1958), public boards created by legislative act have only the powers expressly conferred or necessarily implied. HB 1552 Section 2(1)(f) gives the bureau the express power "[t]o contribute funds for the operation of any visitor information center in the designated area for the repair, restoration, and maintenance of buildings and grounds owned by governmental entities and nonprofit corporations which would tend to promote tourism, conventions and special events in the city and county . . . ." That is exactly the kind of arrangement the Cultural Heritage Foundation operates: a nonprofit-owned building serving as a visitor center for the area. The bureau may fund the foundation for the operation of the Tennessee Williams Welcome Center.

What this means for you

Convention and visitors bureau directors and boards

When you pay a nonprofit partner for tourism-related work, point to your enabling local and private act's specific authority. Generic "we promote tourism" language is not enough. The Columbus-Lowndes CVB's HB 1552 Section 2(1)(f) is a model of the kind of express authority the AG looks for.

Nonprofit visitor center operators

If you partner with a CVB, your contract should track the bureau's enabling act language. State that the funding supports the operation of a visitor information center and the maintenance of buildings used to promote tourism. Document the public purpose served.

Other CVBs in Mississippi

Each CVB has its own local and private legislation. Read yours carefully. Authority that exists for the Columbus-Lowndes CVB may not exist for yours. If your CVB lacks similar express authority and you want to fund a nonprofit partner, the legislature is the right place to seek it.

Mississippi Ethics Commission staff

This opinion is responsive to a directive from your office. The structure (CVB referred to AG by Ethics Commission) is the right path when the question is whether the public body has statutory authority for an expenditure, rather than whether a particular ethics conflict applies.

Mississippi residents and tourism advocates

Tennessee Williams's Columbus connection (the Welcome Center is in his birthplace) gets steady tourism interest. The arrangement between the CVB and the Cultural Heritage Foundation is the kind of public-private partnership the legislature explicitly authorized for this kind of region-specific tourism asset.

Background and statutory framework

Mississippi convention and visitors bureaus are typically created by local and private legislation, not general statute. The 2011 HB 1552 created the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau. Section 2(1)(f) of that act grants the bureau the express power to contribute funds for visitor center operations on properties owned by governmental entities or nonprofits.

Public boards created by legislative act have only the powers "expressly conferred by law, or as arise by necessary implication." Golding v. Salter, 107 So. 2d 348, 354 (Miss. 1958). The opinion's analysis tracks the express-grant test directly: does HB 1552 give the bureau the authority? Yes, by its plain terms. So the funding is permissible.

The Cultural Heritage Foundation is a 501(c)(3) corporation whose articles of incorporation are "to foster, promote, encourage and advertise tourism in the Columbus, Mississippi trade area." The foundation owns the Tennessee Williams Welcome Center. The funding to the foundation, for operating that center, fits the statutory authorization comfortably.

Citations

2011 Mississippi House Bill 1552 § 2(1)(f) (CVB authority to contribute funds for visitor information centers on governmental and nonprofit-owned property)
Golding v. Salter, 107 So. 2d 348, 354 (Miss. 1958) (public boards have only powers expressly conferred or necessarily implied)

Source

Original opinion text

August 17, 2023
John D. Brady, Esq.
Attorney, Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau
Post Office Box 1366
Columbus, Mississippi 39703-1366
Re:

Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau's Funding of
Columbus Cultural Heritage Foundation

Dear Mr. Brady:
The Office of the Attorney General has received your request for an official opinion.

Background
The Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau was created by 2011 Mississippi House
Bill No. 1552 ("H.B. 1552"). According to your request, the Columbus Cultural Heritage
Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporate entity, owns the Tennessee Williams Welcome Center
in Columbus. You state that the Columbus Cultural Heritage Foundation "is tasked with, among
other things, the duty and obligation to maintain, repair, and restore the center. In addition, and
consistent with its Articles of Incorporation, the Columbus Cultural Heritage Foundation is 'to
foster, promote, encourage and advertise tourism in the Columbus, Mississippi trade area.'"
(internal citation omitted). We understand that you are seeking this opinion at the direction of the
Mississippi Ethics Commission.
Question Presented
Does the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau have the authority to provide
funding to the Columbus Cultural Heritage Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) historic foundation?
Brief Response
The Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau ("CVB") may provide funding to the
Columbus Cultural Heritage Foundation ("CCHF") for the operation of the Tennessee Williams
Welcome Center in Columbus in accordance with H.B. 1552.

Applicable Law and Discussion
"Public boards created by legislative act have only such powers and authority as are expressly
conferred by law, or as arise by necessary implication." Golding v. Salter, 107 So. 2d 348, 354
(Miss. 1958). Section 2(1)(f) of H.B. 1552 grants the CVB the power "[t]o contribute funds for the
operation of any visitor information center in the designated area for the repair, restoration, and
maintenance of buildings and grounds owned by governmental entities and nonprofit corporations
which would tend to promote tourism, conventions and special events in the city and county . . . ."
It is the opinion of this office that H.B. 1552 allows the CVB to provide funding to the CCHF for
the operation of the Tennessee Williams Welcome Center in Columbus.
If this office may be of any further assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
LYNN FITCH, ATTORNEY GENERAL
By:

/s/ Beebe Garrard
Beebe Garrard
Special Assistant Attorney General