Mayor Roger Morrill said he has not seen a council exceed its annual budget for conference expenses for some time, but last month he was surprised to see that happen.
Three town councillors who attended the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association conference, held Nov. 20–22 at the Calgary Telus Convention Centre, spent thousands of dollars on accommodations and conference fees plus payroll claims, exceeding the town’s annual $10,000 budget for “continuing education, courses and conferences.”
“For my first three years as mayor, we never exceeded that (budgeted line) item,” said Morrill. “Just to let you know, I attended several conferences and seminars, and not once did I make use of a hotel room, or charge it to the town at least. But these charges were substantial.”
At the AUMA conference, three town councillors cumulatively claimed at least $10,912.36 in expenses and pay, according to the town’s November expense claims.
Councillor Steve Schafer submitted a claim of $2,379.67 for three days at the conference, mileage, almost $800 in hotel accommodations and almost the same amount in conference registration fees.
Schafer noted he did not make a claim for some additional mileage he accumulated.
Councillor Nicole Adams submitted total claim of $4,228.96: $1,080 for six days spent at the conference, $1,699.96 in hotel accommodations and $1,449 in conference registration fees.
Adams also claimed $204 in meal subsistence last month, at a rate of $51 per day, according to town policy.
Councillor Tanu Tyszka-Evans submitted a claim of $4,303.73 for five days attended at the conference plus accommodations, mileage and registration fees. He said he was able to negotiate a lower cost for his hotel accommodation.
Tyszka-Evans also claimed $204 in meal subsistence last month, plus $37.50 in other subsistence.
“Regarding the meals, I say that I have a real problem with that one, because most of the meals were provided, and I don’t know why we’re being charged the way we are,” Morrill said.
“I did some rough calculations, and we’ve had councillor costs as high as just under $4,500 and, not including transportation, to looks like just under $2,000,” pointed out the mayor.
In terms of hotel rates, Morrill turned to administration to explain why the Fairmont Palliser was selected.
“Why was (the Fairmont Palliser) chosen? Because I went online today and I checked out rates, and their best rate today is $400, and I checked out the other hotels that were on this list for the AUMA convention, and I got ranges from $107 to, I think, $140,” said the mayor.
“It just sort of takes me back a little bit as to the cost. Can you tell me how that was decided?” Morrill asked chief administrative officer (CAO) Ryan Maier.
The CAO explained administration had not booked hotels in advance because it was not known who from council would be attending.
“Once council was elected and we knew which councillors were wanting to attend, we started phoning around, and all of the hotels were booked, and none of the conference rates were being offered, either,” said Maier.
The CAO then started calling other municipalities to see if they had any extra rooms they had booked, and Maier was offered a number of spare rooms the Town of Vermilion had booked at the Palliser.
Morrill noted that in addition to the conference, there were also meetings in advance of the conference that can be pricey.
“Basically, I think council has to look at: is this a new direction of council? And if so, we’re probably going to have to multiply the budget line item many times. That would be my guess,” said Morrill.
Council passed a motion that if a councillor submits a claim for a full-day per diem, a claim for a half-day per diem may not be made for all of the meetings attended that day.
Only Schafer voted against the motion, believing the current policy should be upheld.
“I don’t this is a point to be voting on now, because we have a policy, and I think if we’re going to be advising new policy, that statement (should) go into new policy development,” said Schafer.
Council voted against approving the AUMA expenses.
Councillor Tim Verhaeghe asked what policy administration had in place for who is responsible for approving council expenses. Maier said there is no policy in place, but traditionally the mayor has overseen it.
According to the Town of Athabasca’s council remuneration policy, “Town of Athabasca councillors and mayor will be compensated reasonably and fairly for work done on behalf of the Town.”
The Town of Athabasca’s council subsistence policy states that, “the council of the Town of Athabasca recognizes that, on occasion, members of council may have to go out of the town on town business and as such has approved subsistence rates.”
Those policies state what may and may not be compensated to councillors but do not specify who the approving authority is.
Tyszka-Evans said he would prefer if “policies were brought back to council as a whole. I kind of like what we’re doing here.”
“I just wonder why I would vote to approve my own expense claims,” said Schafer. “I just submitted it according to the policy, and now I’m kind of scratching my head. Now I have to vote to approve?”
A motion was passed in favour of Morrill reviewing council expenses.
