An alert FrontBurnervian points us to something interesting in the VisitDallas deal that I haven’t seen anywhere else yet. Scroll down to page 28 of this 990 form filed by VisitDallas in 2015, the most recent year available. See that $35,000 loan to CEO Phillip Jones? What the holy heck is that? It is characterized as a “pay advance.” Jones’ compensation that year was $670,000. Not all of that was cash. I don’t know what his FSA or withholding situations are. So for argument’s sake, let’s ignore all that. If he gets paid every two weeks, his paycheck would be $27,916. And he needed to borrow $35,000? Furthermore, the 990 form says that Jones has (or had) a balance due of $135,000. Is VisitDallas running a payday loan operation that charges $100,000 in interest on a $35,000 loan?
I’m sure there’s a good explanation for this. I’ve called and emailed Frank Librio, the VisitDallas marketing guy who handles media relations and whose compensation in 2015 was $174,000. If I hear back from him, I’ll update this post.
