Mpls. City Council all over the map on car allowance

Betsy Hodges represents southwest Minneapolis on the City Council, and a corner of her ward is farther from City Hall than any other point in the city.

Hodges, like most city employees, claims mileage reimbursement for meeting with city residents. She got $1,084 last year at the IRS rate.

Contrast that with Council Member Lisa Goodman, whose ward includes City Hall. She lives downtown, close enough to walk to work if she didn't need her car for appointments. Goodman billed the city for $5,600 in auto allowance payments last year, although $800 was accidental and taken out of this year's allowance.

Those two examples show the wide disparity in how council members treat the $400-per-month auto allowance that a lame-duck council approved in 2005.

Four council members didn't collect the allowance last year. Hodges was the only one who collected on a per-mile basis. Ralph Remington billed the city $4,800 in allowances for car expenses, with Scott Benson and Barbara Johnson right behind him.

Some have criticized the car allowance as a back-door pay raise for council members, who will make $76,482 this year.

"I would be as frugal with the city's money as I am with my own," said Ninth Ward candidate Dave Bicking. He said he'd reject the allowance because his 1991 Toyota is cheap to drive.

Former Council Member Pat Scott said, "Given the pay level for the council position, I think it's astonishing that they would even consider giving themselves mileage in these times at all, given the belt tightening that's happening all over the city, with taxpayers suffering."

Remington defended claiming the allowance, noting that as one of two black council members, he often has business on the North Side, outside his South Side ward. "We're using our cars 24/7," he said. "It's a disservice to the public when this is portrayed as untoward."

Most nonincumbents running for City Council said they'd refuse the allowance, with some saying they'd collect only for actual miles driven. Council members Cam Gordon, Diane Hofstede, Robert Lilligren and Elizabeth Glidden don't collect anything for auto use. Paul Ostrow, Sandra Colvin Roy and Gary Schiff collect well below the maximum allowance, saying they base their claims on estimates of what they'd collect in mileage.

Goodman said that her schedule is so packed that she needs a car to dash to meetings, at which she incurs parking costs. She noted that unlike mileage payments, the auto allowance is subject to taxation, meaning she nets under $250 monthly.

So why not bill for actual miles, as city employees do unless they're assigned a car or use an hourly rental? Johnson said it's too cumbersome. Council Member Don Samuels said that record-keeping issues under the old, preallowance system caused him to give the city lots of free miles. "I can't keep up with it," he said. "It's totally ridiculous. I can't even find my wallet half the time."

Gordon and Lilligren don't have a mileage-recording problem. Lilligren, who has the most compact ward, said he walks, bikes or takes the bus. Gordon shares a car with his wife, bikes or rides the bus. Recently, a committee meeting was delayed for lack of a quorum when he missed a bus.

Gordon said he's not saying he'll never take the allowance, but that taking one approved as he was taking office didn't seem right. "I've gotten some pressure from home that I should be taking it, and right now our brakes are out," he said earlier this year.

Aside from office budgets, the car payment is the only allowance council members get for expenses. They also get free parking at City Hall.

City Clerk Steve Ristuben said that he would approve payment for a bus pass for a council member who took no car allowance. Mayor R.T. Rybak included $5,000 in his office budget this year to lease a car for city business and another $2,000 to maintain it.

Some council candidates say they don't own a car. Others said they'd collect for miles driven. Kevin Reich, a First Ward candidate, said he'd either forgo the allowance or donate it to a small business for bike racks. John Quincy in the 11th Ward said he'd collect mileage only if he drove outside the city. Laura Jean of the Sixth Ward said she'd take mileage, but not the allowance: "I would not be comfortable using taxpayers' money for a car allowance in these economically challenging times."

Steve Brandt • 612-673-4438