MS Coast councilman asks State Auditor’s Office to examine Hancock County Tourism

Bay St. Louis Councilman Kyle Lewis said this week that he has asked the State Auditor’s Office to examine how the Hancock County Tourism Development Bureau spent money from the city.

The agency owes more than $35,000 to Cruisin’ The Coast and is closing because of financial challenges. Bay St. Louis gave Hancock County Tourism $20,000 each year that city leaders intended to fund the annual car show.

Lewis said he met with an investigator from the State Auditor’s Office on Wednesday after Hancock County Tourism officials did not answer questions about how the agency spent the city’s money.

“I felt like the only other way to get answers was to get the State Auditor’s Office involved,” he said.

The request comes amid some turmoil at Hancock County Tourism, which has long sponsored Cruisin’ The Coast. Two members of the agency’s Board of Directors have resigned in recent months. Woody Bailey, the executive director of Cruisin’ The Coast, sent the agency a demand letter in August seeking payments that Hancock County Tourism failed to make between 2022 and 2024.

Bill Cotter, president of Hancock County Tourism’s Board of Directors, said, “if the state auditor sees the need to audit the Tourism Bureau, we would welcome their team and look forward to their report.”

Hancock County Tourism Executive Director McKenzey Northington also said the agency “would welcome their efforts.”

It is unclear if the State Auditor’s Office has opened a formal investigation. Cities across the state often ask the office to examine possible misuse of government resources and help recoup taxpayer money. But Jacob Walters, communications director for State Auditor Shad White, declined to comment, and the agency does not usually confirm or deny its involvement in investigations.

“All I know is they’ve been notified,” Lewis said. “They’re aware of the concerns, and they will be trying to get some answers.”

Questions over Cruisin’ payments

Cotter said in an interview last week that the agency fell behind on payments when its former executive director, Myrna Green, became ill. She died last year and has been widely recognized for her work to promote local tourism.

Council members in Bay St. Louis began asking questions about Hancock County Tourism this summer after leaders decided the agency would shut down in the fall. Lewis has sought answers about several points of confusion, including how much of Bay St. Louis’ money was not spent on Cruisin’ The Coast as the City Council intended.

Northington and the Board offered to meet privately with the City Council to address questions because they said the discussion would involve “possible legal and personnel matters.” Northington said Hancock County Tourism cannot publicly answer questions about how the money was spent while the agency is in litigation to collect insurance money it needs to pay Cruisin’ The Coast.

“Our hands are pretty tied,” she said. She added that the agency is trying to be “as transparent as possible.”

Lewis argued the meeting should be public because he said most of his questions were not about personnel. He also said the issue involves “misallocation of funds.”

“That’s taxpayer dollars,” he said. “We as a city council are responsible for that. So we deserve to understand those answers.”

Northington and other leaders at Hancock County Tourism said they have no formal record that requires the money from Bay St. Louis be used for Cruisin’ The Coast. Lewis confirmed that the city for years had an informal agreement, rather than a written contract, that the $20,000 Bay St. Louis gave Hancock County Tourism each year should go to Cruisin’.

Coastal Mississippi, a regional tourism bureau that advertises the three coastal counties, is expected to take over Hancock County Tourism’s responsibilities after the agency shuts down at the end of the month.

Cotter said last week that the Board hopes to pay Cruisin’ The Coast by Sept. 30.