A few weeks ago, we criticized the return on investment the city of Sparks received for its purchase of a branding campaign. The suggestion of “Nevada’s Festival City” seemed to be a simplistic idea from a company, Destination Development International, that reportedly has come up with brands in more than 50 Nevada cities.

The City Council agreed to pay $114,000 to this company to suggest logo, catchphrase ideas and ways the city might boost tourism to the city in an effort to help the city grow and prosper. In the grand scheme of consulting fees, the $114,000 isn’t ridiculous.

Except, OOPS! Looks like that bill should have been $550,587.

Of course, it is neither the city’s fault or Destination Development’s fault. They could not have foreseen the $436,587 accounting “oversight” that would be found when DDI asked the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitor’s Authority about the room tax money that gets sent to the Sparks Tourism and Marketing Committee. How could anyone know that the person writing the checks at the RSCVA was overpaying Sparks after the $200,000 cap became law in 2003? And just as importantly, how could anyone at the city know that the checks coming in were too big?

Somebody should have known. Current City Manager Shaun Carey, current Councilman Ron Schmitt and former Mayor Tony Armstrong all testified in support of the bill that both raised the room tax rate in Sparks and put the cap on the city’s yearly allocation of the tax. The cap was discussed in an April 29, 2003 Senate Taxation Committee hearing on the change to the law. “We do want to cap that investment at its current level of $200,000 per year and return any growth in the room tax increment from the last session back to the RSCVA so they can do the critical job of regional marketing,” Carey told that committee.

The letters sent to the city of Sparks in 2006, 2007 and 2008 are all signed by RSCVA vice president of finance Tim Smith and addressed to Carey and twice to the city’s current finance director Tom Minton. It would seem this error got through several people over several years. And it seems the members of the Tourism and Marketing Committee, including Schmitt and Councilman Ron Smith, either forgot about the change, didn’t know about it or thought the money fairy was magically making the committee’s bank account grow.

Whoever you want to point the finger(s) at, somebody ought to be held responsible. If anybody in a normal job made a mistake that cost the company $436,587, their head would roll out the door before the rest of their body had a chance to follow. There needs to be accountability somewhere, and since the residents of Sparks have no control over the RSCVA it is logical to look to city hall. Committee chair Schmitt has been in this issue since 2003, as has city manager Carey. Maybe one of them will be able to tell us where the system broke down, who should be held responsible, what will happen as a result and that it will never, ever happen again.

This situation is magnified since it is happening under the microscope of a recession that has already led to cutbacks and layoffs at the city. Imagine how all the competent former city employees who lost their jobs over the last 12 months must feel. Even in good times, a mistake like this in a little town like Sparks is not just a scratch. It is a major wound.

Especially at a time when the committee that got overpaid is responsible for special events — the supposed cornerstone of the city’s future. If this loss could jeopardize current special events, what about the 150-plus days of new events the city needs to become “Nevada’s Festival City”? Maybe the RSCVA can use some of that $436,587 to help with that.

Washoe County issued a press release this week stating that the county’s bond rating had been upgraded because of “good financial management.” Sparks probably won’t be issuing any such press release soon.