The Chamber of Commerce has notified the Town of Fountain Hills that it will cancel its professional services agreement to provide tourism promotion services effective Dec. 31.

Town Manager Ken Buchanan received a brief letter to that effect from Chamber CEO/President Frank Ferrara dated Oct. 21.

The decision comes shortly after the announcement that Chamber Tourism Bureau Executive Director Mark McDermott was resigning effective Oct. 31.

As for the future, right now it’s unclear as to how much tourism will be promoted.

Chamber officials have declined to comment on the decision to cancel its agreement with the town or on McDermott’s decision.

Buchanan will have to work with the Town Council and outside entities to ultimately decide how Fountain Hills will promote tourism and with how much money.

The Chamber decision means that the town will not be paying the Tourism Bureau the remainder of the $103,000 that was allocated in the 2013-14 budget.

The town received quarterly invoices from the Chamber outlining expenses and seeking reimbursement. The actual amount the town will be saving from the budget will not be known until it receives that second quarter invoice after Dec. 30.

After Jan. 1, it will be up to town officials to determine how they will proceed with tourism promotion for Fountain Hills.

Ultimately final decisions will fall with the Town Council, but Buchanan said staff will “take stock” of the situation to provide the council with information.

“(Staff will review) what tourism strategies and action plans were implemented by the Chamber Tourism Bureau to close any loose ends that remain,” Buchanan said.

Staff will also need to address the tourism website and make contact with the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation and the Arizona Office of Tourism, which the bureau had partnered with.

“Finally, (the town will consider) development of a tourism strategy for marketing and advertising with the funds left in the 2013/14 annual budget,” Buchanan said.

The town first entered into the services agreement with the Tourism Bureau in 2007 with a $375,000 contract spread over three years. That had been reduced to the annual $103,000 allotment as the recession took hold.

The Tourism Bureau was taking a significant financial hit this year as the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation announced in September it would allocate only $5,000 to the bureau, a cut of $25,000 over the previous year.

That left the bureau with a budget of $150,000 for this year, its lowest ever.

Much of the bureau’s work consisted of media purchases in nationwide publications and production of pamphlets and promotional materials for local and regional distribution.

Prior to the Chamber creating the Tourism Bureau the town worked with the Scottsdale Convention and Visitors Bureau, a relationship that ended in early 2008 after the local Tourism Bureau went into operation.

Buchanan said he does not know at this point whether the town might consider exploring new options with the SCVB.