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Kottkamp To Pay For Family Flights

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The Associated Press

Published: February 9, 2009

TALLAHASSEE - Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp said he would reimburse the state $12,974 for flights his wife and son took aboard state planes.

The announcement came after the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Sunday that Kottkamp billed taxpayers $425,000 for 365 flights on state planes in his first two years in office, two-thirds of them to and from Fort Myers, where they own a home.
Florida law previously barred public officials from using state airplanes for commuting, but lawmakers quietly put language in a massive budget bill in July to permit the practice.

State rules require payment, however, for travel by a state official's family. After the Sun-Sentinel inquired about 27 flights made by Kottkamp's wife and 24 by his young son, he said he would reimburse the state.

Mike McClure, the manager of the state Bureau of Aircraft Operations, said Kottkamp wasn't charged for his family's flights because of a billing error. The bureau found the problem last summer and sent a memo June 18 to state executives reminding them that family must pay to fly.

Six days after the memo went out, Kottkamp took his wife and son on a state plane from Fort Myers to Miami and returned two days later. State records show they were not charged and that his family has not used the planes since.

Florida has six pilots, a jet and a turboprop plane to take state officials wherever they need to go for state business.

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