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Paying The Way, Or Not Going?

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By JULIA FERRANTE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 17, 2008

Pasco County Commissioner Ann Hildebrand stayed at the Double Tree Hotel for $102 a night in January 2007 while visiting legislators in Tallahassee on Pasco County's behalf.

She stayed there again in June while lobbying to preserve the Cross Bar Ranch. This time it was peak season, and the price of rooms had spiked to $199 per night.

In August, when commissioners were in the heat of budget negotiations and deep spending cuts, county records show that Hildebrand opted for a more frugal choice: the Cabot Lodge, which she said offers comfortable rooms not far from the Capitol for $69 a night.

The Double Tree, Hildebrand explained, offers the convenience of being across the street from the Capitol and has valet parking. Staying on the outskirts of town requires a little more planning, and a stash of coins to feed parking meters.

The board's collective $12,000-per-year travel budget was the first account stripped last summer, when commissioners set out to cut $16 million from their 2007-08 spending plan to comply with statewide tax reform and provide relief to homeowners. The travel budget was paid for with property taxes.

Since the beginning of the fiscal year Oct. 1, commissioners, who are paid a state-set salary of $80,227, have been traveling on their own dime. Some have become more frugal. Some have not traveled at all.

Commissioner Pat Mulieri, who has not billed the county for travel since the budget was depleted, said the travel account allowed board members to participate in valuable training events, where they had the opportunity to compare notes with peers from other jurisdictions. Florida's open meetings law prohibits elected officials from discussing county business out of the public view with few exceptions.

"I think it's a shame," Mulieri said. "Our budget for travel was $12,000. I don't think that was an astronomical amount. When you become a commissioner, you can't talk to other Pasco commissioners. When you go to these conferences you can talk to other commissioners."

Neighboring Hillsborough County also used to have a $12,000 travel budget for its seven county commissioners to split, Budget Manager Tom Fesler said. The board cut that account to $9,000 this fiscal year. Hillsborough board members, who are paid $91,995 per year, also got a taxable car allowance of $600 per month each. They cut that to $540 per month for this fiscal year. The chairman of the board is paid $101,195 plus a car allowance.

How They Spent

In May, when Pasco commissioners still had a travel budget, Mulieri submitted a $595 expense report for a one-day seminar on "developing your public sector balanced scorecard" at the Quorum Hotel in Tampa. The cost was registration fees. She also submitted for mileage reimbursement but did not stay overnight at the hotel.

She drove to Orlando in June for a three-night, Florida Association of Counties conference, billing the county $908 for three nights at the Renaissance Orlando Resort at Sea World, registration fees, meals and mileage.

In July, Mulieri spent $278 for two nights at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort in St. Petersburg plus $250 in registration fees for a "Farm to Fuel Summit," sponsored by the state Department of Agriculture, along with $32 for mileage, reimbursed at a rate of 45 cents per mile.

Mulieri said she "always came away with ideas" after her county-sponsored trips. At the Florida Association of Counties Conference meeting, for instance, Mulieri learned about a company that offers a less expensive method of paving roads, a priority in her district.

"I don't think anybody spent the travel money frivolously. We have events like Death by Chocolate," she said, referring to a game designed to break the ice among government officials from various districts. "I go to every single workshop when I go, and I come away with ideas."

Commissioner Jack Mariano by far spent the most on travel among commissioners, records show. He charged the county $1,318 for a July National Association of Counties conference in Richmond, Va. The tab included four nights at a Marriott hotel, conference fees, plane tickets and meals.

On July 17, the day after he got back from the NACO conference, Mariano was on his way to Marco Island for environmental permitting "summer school," records show. The three-night trip cost the county $955.

Mariano also billed the county $820 for a Florida Environmental Network event in February at Daytona Beach and $607 for three nights at a golf resort in Destin for another FAC event in November 2006. He attended several other FAC conferences during the fiscal year as part of his training as a new commissioner, he said.

Mariano, who submitted expense reports for meetings in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Orlando, Tallahassee and Fort Lauderdale, said he has no plans to cut back.

"It costs me money, but I'm still doing things I think I need to do," he said. "If I think I can serve my constituents better and try to learn from them, I will go."

Reports show he did not spend much on meals and shared hotel rooms with county employees a few times when Pasco was paying.

Mariano recently attended a NACO workshop in Wrightsville Beach, N.C. This time, he drove his own car, paid the $195 conference fee and $90 a night to stay in the Blockade Runner Resort, where the conference was held. On the way home, he treated himself to a Subway sandwich "with extra meat."

Mariano wanted to follow up with business he started in Richmond, Va., last year, where he spoke about rising insurance costs in Florida, he said. He plans to attend another NACO meeting in March in Washington, D.C., also to speak about the insurance issue.

"I was trying to get the concept across," he said. "It takes a lot to educate people to what it is. Florida is bailing everyone else out."

Mariano joked that his trip to Subway, which he paid for, was slightly more expensive than his usual Wendy's on the county dime.

"I've played it like I spent my own money, probably a little more," he said.

Commissioner Michael Cox, who filed a $933 expense report for the June Florida Association of Counties conference Mulieri also attended, said he has loosened his hold on the purse strings now that he is picking up the bill.

Elected in November, Cox also attended a Florida Association of Counties certification program in January for $332, including one night at the Hilton Ocala, registration fees and mileage.

Cox submitted three other expense reports in 2007, two for trips to Tallahassee for business with the legislature and one for an FAC conference in Howey-in-the-Hills. He spent about $100 a night on those trips to stay at the Quality Inn & Suites, the Holiday Inn Select and a Best Western.

"I am probably less aware now of what I'm spending. I'm more aware when it's on the public dime," he said.

A financial planner with Morgan Stanley, Cox sometimes combines county trips to Tallahassee with business for the investment house.

"If I need to be in Tallahassee, I'm going to go," he said, noting that recently he got up at 3 a.m. to drive to capital for a meeting on the Cross Bar Ranch. He drove back that afternoon.

'Just Didn't Seem Right'

Commission chairman Ted Schrader attended certification classes after he was elected almost eight years ago. Since then, he has gone to Tallahassee about once a year and regularly attended Tampa Bay Water meetings in Clearwater without billing the county.

Schrader recently hitched a ride with County Administrator John Gallagher to Tallahassee. On previous trips, he said, he has stayed with a friend in Thomasville or in Gainesville near one of his sons.

"Even before the budget crunch, I just made the decision that I was going to be paying travel expenses out of my own pocket," Schrader said.

Schrader doubts the commissioners' travel budget will be back any time soon.

"That was the first thing to be cut, and it will probably be the last thing we add back," he said.

Reporter Julia Ferrante can be reached at (813) 948-4220 or jferrante@tampatrib.com.

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