By Mark Scheer

mark.scheer@tonawanda-news.com

Niagara Falls lawmakers are considering a plan to hire an outside auditor to review the financial records of the county’s lead tourism agency.

City Councilman Sam Fruscione said the city’s corporation counsel has been asked to solicit bids for private auditing firms capable of conducting an examination of the Niagara Tourism and Convention Corp.’s books.

Fruscione, who for months has expressed concerns about the tourism agency’s handling of city funds, is expecting the council to be able to review the bids in the coming weeks and select an auditor in about a month.

“We’re giving them money that is supposed to be used for marketing the City of Niagara Falls,” Fruscione said. “We want to know where it is going.”

NTCC officials have routinely insisted they have nothing to hide from Fruscione or any other city official. The organization sent a letter to the city council chairman in January reminding him the NTCC invited Corporation Counsel Craig Johnson to meet with its chief financial officer to review “any documents” related to the organization’s finances. The letter noted the NTCC submitted a 57-page document to Johnson that it claimed contained “a significant amount of information” about the agency’s financial operations. It also noted Fruscione did not respond to a request to conduct an onsite review of his own at that time.

The letter explains NTCC would welcome a visit from a city audit team and would make its conference room available for the review of any materials and documents.

NTTC President John Percy said Fruscione has not yet responded to the invitation.

“We invited them back in July to come in and see our books,” Percy said.

Fruscione said he would prefer that an outside auditor be brought in to take a closer look at NTCC’s finances, claiming the information provided by the agency to date has not included a sufficient level of detail. He said he is concerned that revenues provided to the organization by the city are not being used as intended.

“I need to see actual spending and invoices,” Fruscione said.

The ongoing spat over the use of the agency’s finances comes as NTCC officials are preparing to hold a Feb. 18 meeting at the Rapids Theatre on Main Street where they will unveil the organization’s five-year strategic plan and marketing plan for 2010-11.

Percy said city officials who attend the session will learn more about how the NTCC plans to market Niagara Falls and the entire county in the coming months and years.

“It’s our opportunity to really showcase our work and our completed plans, which I think are really impressive,” Percy said.

Contact reporter Mark Scheer at 282-2311, ext. 2250.