THE GUARDIAN could not help but notice the car allowance number for Mayor Nancolas of Caldwell who has a whopping $10,000.00 car allowance a year. So, a quest for further knowledge of what the mayors in the valley are allowed for vehicle use will be posted as they are received
The first response received is from the fair city of Meridian, Idaho. The response is exactly as received from the good people at Meridian City Hall:
"Mr. Allredge:
The City of Meridian provides Mayor de Weerd with a car for her use as well as the fuel and maintenance of the vehicle. For FY09 the City has budgeted $825 for fuel, $500 for maintenance, and $500 for repair of the vehicle. The Mayor is taxed on her personal use of the vehicle at $190.26 per month. I hope this answers your questions."
The following response was received from the city of Boise regarding Mayor Dave Bieter's vehicle budget allowance.
"Dear Paul,
Thank you for your inquiry regarding Mayor Bieter's vehicle allowance for the next budget year which begins October 1, 2008. Mayor Bieter does not receive a vehicle allowance nor does he receive mileage reimbursement for driving his personal vehicle when he is on City of Boise business.
Your request for information has also been forwarded to the City Clerk for the City of Boise as your request is considered a Public Records request."
Mayor Tom Dale of Nampa claimed $4,080 last year in mileage for his personal vehicle expenses.
Update from Caldwell City Finance Director 8-20-2008
Mayor Nancolas vehicle reinbursement:
Mayor Nancolas was reimbursed $9,000 for 19,852 miles driven in his personal vehicle conducting city and public business in 2007. That is $ .453 per mile and is below the federal mileage rate of $ .485. Mayor Nancolas pays all vehicle expenses and the city saves the cost of a new vehicle and has placed responsibility to maintain the vehicle on Mayor Nancolas. The city has no liability if the vehicle is wrecked or abused. The point that you are missing is that mileage reimbursements are not money makers to the recipients they are simply cost reimbursements. Garret spent most if not all of the $9,000 he received on vehicle expenses, repairs and purchase. The city would have to pay similar amounts if it provided a vehicle to the Mayor. Please tell me how much you would expect the city to reimburse you for driving 19,852 miles. I'll bet your request would exceed $9,000.
City of Eagle... city owned vehicle that stays at city hall and they budget $1,000 per year for fuel and maintenance. Mayor of Eagle drives his own car to and from city hall with no mileage expenses billed to the city.
It will be very interesting reading when you receive Mayor Tom Dale's auto allowance amount compared to other cities. A review of "business miles" would probably be in order. It was discussed at one time that a city automobile for the mayor's use would be appropriate, but the mayor was not in favor of that. Perhaps that was because he had just bought a new Mercedes.
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