After depleting her city-supplied budget for official travel this past fiscal year, Councilwoman Laura Padgett said she had to use personal funds to get from place to place.
At the tail end of the city council’s regular meeting Tuesday night, she asked for reimbursement.
Her request, for $453.10 worth of budget overruns, passed with majority approval–Councilmen Charlie Rivenbark and Neil Anderson voting “no” without comment.
The two councilmen also voted against waiving procedural rules to discuss the request. It was not on the night’s printed agenda.
But Padgett, who has been critical of the limited cash allowances council members get for travel, said trips she’s made on behalf of the city have added up.
She sits on national boards and committees and, as such, travels more frequently than fellow council members who have the same $2,750 budget to work with, she’s noted.
She described her over-budget expenditures to fellow council members this way: “I made three trips this year. They include just the airfare for two of them. One trip, I used my own frequent-flyer miles to get there. They include just the hotel coverage and one cab for $15.”
The trips were to National League of Cities meetings, including a Congress-focused NLC event in Washington, D.C., this past March, and a transportation summit in Texas.
Padgett emphasized she wasn’t going to charge the city for a per diem or other daily expenses, but the major costs were felt.
“However cheap you try to fly, you can only get the price down so far,” she said. “So, I would request reimbursement from the city….”
Padgett made the motion herself, seconded by Councilman Earl Sheridan.
It followed a discussion Padgett led with fellow council members the previous morning on possibly revising their travel policy.
Currently, the annual $2,750 each council member receives and the mayor’s $3,500 are capped, and whatever expenses a council member incurs beyond that limit must be paid privately (with the exception afforded Padgett on Tuesday).
Padgett had proposed a concept of individual council members having access to unspent allowance dollars at the end of each fiscal year, for reimbursements, but it didn’t win support.
The city is plotting some alternate revisions to the policy that could be ready for council’s consideration in August.
Related story: Council crafting new policy for travel expenses
Ben Brown is a news reporter at Port City Daily. Reach him at [email protected] or (910) 772-6335. On Twitter:@benbrownmedia
