The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutFringe Benefits and Expense Allowances for Council Members - 11 June 1976 4 TO Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council Acting City Administrator FROM City Attorney SUBJECT Fringe Benefits and Expense Allowances for Council Members The City Council has requested the City Attorney to prepare a legal opinion respecting \Council fringe benefits We have also reviewed the question of Co ncil expense allowances under Section 502 of the City Charter Transmitted herewith is City A torney Opinion No 76-28 which j concludes that City Council members may legally receive fringe benefits and that budgetary approval is adequate R Charter Section 02 - -pen�e allowances we find two Respecting harte S t n 5 , categories contained in the Charter CATEGORY 1 Provides for "reimbursement on order of the City Council for Council authorized traveling and other expenses when on of- ficial duty upon submission of an itemized expense account therefor " These accountable expenditures should be those not easonably includable in Category 2 below, and itemized vouchers must be submitted to and approved by Council We recommend that such itemized expense vouchers in summary form be approved bey the City Council at a regular Council meeting once each month under the consent calendar portion of the agenda This probably should be done at the first regular Council meeting of each month covering the itemized vouchers received by the city during the preceding month CATEGORY 2 "In addition, members shall receive such reasonable and adequate amount as may be established by ordinance , which amount shall be deemed to be reimbursement to them of other routine and ordinary expenses , losses and costs imposed upon them by virtue of their serving as City Councilmen " i Memorandum to Mayor and Council Members 11 June 1976 Fringe Benefits Page 2 A copy of Section 2 28 010 , Huntington Beach Municipal Code is annexed hereto It provides for a flat $125 per month for such "other routine and ordinary expenses, losses and costs " No vouchers are required In addition to the foregoing, the Mayor is given $125 automobile allowance pursuant to minute action of the Council, dated June 5 , 1972, copy attached City Attorney Memorandum Opinion, dated June 10, 1974 , attached hereto, explains that the $125 automobile allowance is justified provided itemized vouchers are submitted Such itemized vouchers should be included in the expense allow- ance summary which is approved by Council as recommended above , and in the event the itemized vouchers for the Mayor' s expense allowance do not total $125, then the Mayor should refund to the , city the difference each month On the other hand, if the item- ized vouchers for automobile expense exceeds the sum of $125 , such amount shall be deemed absorbed in Category 2 above A Council subcommittee consisting of Councilmen Coen, Pattinson, and Shenkman met with the City Attorney and Assistant City Attorney on May 11, 1976 at which time the questions of fringe benefits and expense allowances for Council members were thor- oughly discussed and the committee reviewed the relevant City Attorney opinions , attached hereto, and concurred with the City Attorney ' s analysis and conclusions Respectfully submitted, ON P BONFA City Attorney DPB ahb Encs 3 MEMORANDUM OPINION June 10, 1974 TO Vehicle Use Policy Committee, Floyd Belsito, Chairman FROM Don P Bonfa, City Attorney Michael H Miller, Deputy City Attorney SUBJECT Vehicle Allowance for City Council Members QUESTION Can the City Council adopt a policy which would grant itself or any of its members a $125 per month vehicle allowance unsupported by detailed expense vouchers? ANSWER No However, Council members may be reimbursed monthly for actual travel expenses on presentation of detailed vouchers DISCUSSION Section 502 of the Huntington Beach City Charter provides that, in addition to the basic monthly salary, "each member of the City Council shall receive reimbursement on order of the City Council for council-authorized traveling and other expenses when on official duty upon submission of itemized expense account therefor " (Emphasis added As documented reimburse- ment, moneys provided hereunder must be on an actual expense basis Accordingly, a set car allowance in the amount of $125 per month without reference to the actual expenditures related to "official duty" would be without legal authorization In addition, Section 502 of the City Charter provides that "Members shall receive such reasonable and adequate amount as need be established by ordinance, which amount shall be deemed to be reimbursement to them of other routine and ordinary expenses , losses and costs imposed upon them by virtue of their serv- ing as city councilmen " (Emphasis added ) By virtue of a 1967 ordinance (Section 1111, Huntington Beach Ordinance Code) the City has already provided the amount of $125 per month for "other routine and ordinary expenses, losses and costs imposed upon them by virtue of their serving as city councilmen 11 (Emphasis added ) w Memorandum Opinion -2- June 10 , 1974 Authorized traveling and other expenses are covered by Section 502 of the Charter and provide for reimbursement on an actual expense basis Additional amounts for other purposes are provided by Section 1111 of the Ordinance (ode Section 1111 is overbroad insofar as it purports to cover vehicle usage , since the City Charter already provides for "reimbursement for traveling " Thus , "other routine expenses" (emphasis added) as covered by Section 1111 would mean expenses exclusive of traveling and, therefore, a vehicle allowance could not come under the purview of said section Section 1111 of the Huntington Beach Ordinance Code was drafted by a prior City Attorney and should be amended to conform to the Charter Any sort of claim against the public as salary, compensation, wage or expense must be authorized by law or contract , either express or implied Ford vs Department of Water and Power of Los Angeles 4 Cal App 2d 526, 41 P 2d 188 The Charter does not authorize the legislative body to fix salaries of its own members Any grant allowing members of a council to determine their own salaries or compensation, or expenses , will be strictly construed, and, unless language is clear and unmistakable, will be denied McQuillan Municipal Corporations , Volume 4, Section 12 178 and cases cited therein It is a general rule that compensation illegally paid to a municipal officer or employee may be recovered by the municipality and, generally, a taxpayer may enjoin the illegal payment Rhyne Municipal Law Section 819 and cases cited therein If a car allowance were adopted and subjected to court test , in addition to the issue of whether the allowance is legally authorized, the related question of justifying the amount in terms of each councilman' s activities would be in issue Charter Section 502, which presumably was the authority for Section 1111 of the Huntington Beach Ordinance Code, is replete with reference to "reimbursement for expenses on official duty," "itemized expense accounts ," "reasonable and adequate expenses " Thus, any allowances would have to be documented on an actual cost and work related basis The monthly automobile allowance paid to the Mayor has been approved by this office on the basis that it must be justified by itemized expense vouchers CONCLUSION The Charter prohibits a faxed monthly automobile allowance for members of Council not supported by itemized expense vouchers The Charter permits vehicle use reimbursement for members of the a 3 Memorandum Opinion -3- June 10, 1974 Council , which can be paid monthly, provided it is justified by itemized expense vouchers covering authorized travel on official duty MICHAEL H MILLER Deputy City Attorney and I w DON P BONFA City Attorney DPB/MHM k + S �TATEMENT F THE ACTION OF CITY COUNCIL Council Chamber City Hall Huntington Beach California Monday, June 5, 1972 Mayor Coen called the regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Huntington Beach to order at 7 00 P M Councilmen Present Bartlett Gibbs Matne Duke Coen Shipley (arrived at T 25 P M ) Green arrived at 10 30 P M Councilmen Absent None REIMBURSEMENT EXPENSES FOR OFFICIAL DUTIES APPROVED The City Administrator informed Council that he recommends the reimbursing of the Councilman who is serving as Mayor in an amount not to exceed $125 per month for Council authorized traveling and other expenses while using his private vehicle On motion by Matney Council ordered the Finance Director to reimburse the Councilman who is serving as Mayor in an amount not to exceed $125 per month for Council authorized traveling and other expenses when on official duties upon submission of itemized expense accounts therefor effective May 1 1972 The motion was passed by the following roll call vote Mayor Coen requested and was granted permission to abstain from voting on the matter AYES Councilmen Shipley Bartlett Gibbs Green Matney Duke NOES Councilmen None ABSENT Councilmen None ABSTAIN Councilmen Coen On motion by Green the regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Huntington Beach adjourned at 12 05 A M to .tune 12 at 6.00 P.M. in the Council Chamber The motion was passed by the following vote AYES Councilmen _Shipley. Bartlett, Gibbs, Green, Matney, Duke, Coen NOES Councilmen None ABSENT Councilmen None Pant C_ Jones City Clerk and ex officio Clerk of the City Council of the City of Huntington Beach California ATTEST Paul C. Jones Alvin M Coen City Clerk Mayor STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) County of Orange ) as City of Huntington Beach ) I PAUL C JONES the duly elected qualified and acting City Clerk of the City of Huntington Beach California do hereby certify that the above and foregoing is a true and correct Statement of Action of the City Council of said City at their regular meeting held on the 5th day of June 19?2. WITNESS my hand and seal of the said City of Huntington Beach this the 7th day of June 19 72 Paul C Jones City Clerk and ex officio Clerk of the City Council of the City of Huntington Beach, California BY Deputy ORDINANCE NO 2, 0'-I ! AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF HUNTINGTON BEACH AMENDING THE HUNTINGTON BEACH MUNICIPAL CODE BY AMENDING SECTION 2 28 010 THEREOF AND ADDING SECTION 2 28 020 THERETO, PERTAINING TO EXPENSE ALLOWANCE AND FRINGE BENEFITS OF COUNCIL MEMBERS The City Council of the City of Huntington Beach does ordain as follows SECTION 1 The Huntington Beach Municipal Code is hereby amended by amending Section 2 28 010 to read as follows 2 28 010 Expense Allowance � ie e-e is �-fie-a� e�ae�-fie ��se-ea��-�e��e�e-e€-��e-e��-eea�e��-�e�-e��e�eee-e�-a��e��g ji�ee;69:ng&-41-avetl-lng-4e-and-;Pei%-4hea:P-usual-p-1aee-e€-bite�i!nee e ��&��s�-�e�-ae��e�-��-��e-e��-es��e��-,-a��-a��-e��ie�-e�pe�ses ---Tie- ed-hepe- �e�e�-�ee�-�e�-�e-aeee�t��e�-�e�-��-��.e-�ee��e��s-,-��-�e-e��e� he�ee�- - e-e -eee��-It is deemed reasonable and adequate that in reimbursement of the ordinary and routine expenses, Losses and costs imposed upon them by virtue of their serving the city zn their officiaZ capacity, each counciZ member, incZuding the mayor, shaZZ receive monthly, during their term of office, the beZow- Zisted amount as an expense aZZowance, which aZZowance need not be accounted for by the recipients Each CounciZ Member, incZuding Mayor $Z25 In addition thereto, each member of the city counciZ, incZuding the mayor, shaZZ receive reimbursement on order of the city counciZ for counciZ-authorized traveling and other expenses when on officiaZ duty upon submission of itemized expense account therefor A summary Zisting of such itemized expenses for each month shaZZ be presented to the counciZ for approvaZ at the first regular meeting of the foZZow-zng month This section is intended to meet the requirements of Section 502 of the City Charter SECTION 2 The Huntington Beach Municipal Code is hereby amended by adding Section 2 28 020 thereto to read as follows 2 28 020 Fringe benefits Each member of the city counciZ shaZZ receive aZZ fringe benefits which are granted, and in the future shaZZ be granted, to the department heads of the City of Huntington Beach, and the cost of such fringe benefits shaZZ be incZuded in the annual budget DFB er l SECTION 3 This ordinance shall take effect thirty days after its adoption The City Clerk shall certify to the pas- sage of this ordinance and cause same to be published within fifteen days after adoption in the Huntington Beach News, a weekly newspaper of general circulation, printed and published in Huntington Beach, California PASSED AND ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of Huntington Beach at a regular meeting thereof held on the 19th day of July, 1976 ATTEST Mayor City Clerk APPROVED AS TO CONTENT APPROVED AS TO FORM Cr Administrator City Attorn P/ APPROVED BY INITIATING DEPARTMENT 2