A business improvement organization turned in multiples of the same bills to the city of San Diego and spent public money amounting to $112,070 improperly, as reported in a new city audit.  

Promote La Jolla, a nonprofit organization that began in 1992 that seeks to advertise and promote the Village shopping district, is supported and given money by  taxes the city gathers from business owners, hotel taxes and parking and transportation costs. 

Promote La Jolla and Promote La Jolla Foundation, two different organizations, subtracted a $150,000 line of credit and failed to pay back the loan, the audit revealed. Trustees of Promote La Jolla started up the foundation and were members of the board. 

In May, the bank that prolonged the credit took $65,323 from a Promote La Jolla account and used it to finish off the money they owed. The account was composed of city funds for parking and traffic uses that “cannot be used to pay a debt incurred by the Foundation,” the audit stated. The group is working to recover the money they used.   

Auditors also learned that Promote La Jolla turned in multiples of the same reimbursement requests to numerous city offices and the county. Also, it used money in a manner that violated the law in order to pay for foundation costs and the interest on the line of credit, the audit reported.