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Former CRVA chief executive Tim Newman is still collecting his regular salary, including a car allowance, more than two months after he left the tourism authority.
The payments apparently reflect a severance agreement, though the CRVA has said any separation agreement is not a public record.
Newman had been moved into an executive sales position in December when the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority board hired Tom Murray to replace him. In late February, Murray announced that Newman was leaving, saying they both came to a decision that he would move on.
Murray declined at the time to discuss any severance Newman would receive.
N.C. public records law, however, requires public agencies to disclose all money paid to employees.
Newman received $28,905 in accrued vacation on March 3, according to the CRVA.
He has since received four bi-weekly paychecks for $9,461.54 each. He has also been paid two monthly car allowances of $694.58, in March and April.
CRVA attorney Cameron Furr declined to say how long the payments would continue. The checks were first reported by WSOC-TV.
The changes at the CRVA came after a year of controversy.
Newman had come under intense criticism from Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx and some City Council members. They were upset about inflated attendance projections for the NASCAR Hall of Fame, which Newman’s CRVA managed. Newman had said 800,000 people would come in the first year but only 272,000 showed up.
He had also been criticized for his management style, including using his personal spending account on expensive dinners for himself and local business leaders, as well as lavish gifts like New York Yankees baseball tickets.
Newman’s total compensation in 2010 was a little more than $300,000, including a bonus. He didn’t receive a bonus in his last year, and it doesn’t appear he is being paid a bonus after he left the tourism authority.
The CRVA receives about 1/3 of its funding from two hospitality taxes. One is a tax on hotel/motel room occupancy and the other is a 1 percent tax on prepared food and beverages, which is essentially a restaurant bar/tax.
