"It was being utilized for the institute's expenses," McCrady said.

"Which boils down to the salaries of two people, really?" Eisenbaum asked.

"That's the institute's board decision," said McCrady.

The former CEO of Earthquest Institute recently wrote on Facebook and said the organization stopped operating when EMCID stopped funding it with your money. Earthquest Institute's address is still listed at the same address as EMCID's main office.

Seibert calls the whole relationship between EMCID and Earthquest Institute confusing -- with taxpayer dollars in the middle.

"The way I'm reading the numbers here, it looks like a shell game," said Seibert. "It looks like a way to make sure you can't keep your eye on the bouncing ball and you can't follow the money."

McCrady says the amusement park idea is not dead. He says a new developer has until December to raise enough money to buy the land and start planning construction. This time, McCrady made no promises the same disappointments related to the amusement park wouldn't happen again.

"You can never say it's not going to happen again," McCrady said. "I would never say that in any project. But I think the point where our board is now is we're not starting over. What's in place now with the project will continue to be utilized."