Kamloops city council’s 2011 expense tab: $30,580

By Jeremy Deutsch - Kamloops This Week Published: January 30, 2012 5:00 PM

In December, Mayor Peter Milobar travelled to Ottawa to ask the federal environment minister for an independent federal panel review of the Ajax mine project.  It was a trip that cost $1,672, ultimately leading to the request being denied.  That was just a portion of expenses city councillors and the mayor spent last year. City council as a whole spent $30,580 on expenses, $25,003 of which was for travel. Milobar spent $5,398 in 2011 to attend several events, including the Canada Sport Tourism Alliance in Ottawa in April and a mess dinner in Cold Lake, Alta., for the 419 Squadron. However, Nancy Bepple turned out to be the big spender, using $7,867 last year for her expenses, including $3,197 to attend the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) annual convention in Halifax. Councillors are assigned a travel budget of $5,000 annually; however, other members can give their unused travel dollars to help cover extra costs. Former councillor Jim Harker also broke his cap, spending $5,598 for expenses, which included $2,729 to attend the FCM conference. He also spent $2,869 to attend the annual Union of B.C. Municipalities conference in Vancouver, including $1,663 on hotel stays during the five-day event. On the cheaper side of the scale, Coun. Tina Lange and former councillor Denis Walsh spent the least, at $1,743 and $1,164, respectively.  Councillors Marg Spina, Pat Wallace and former councillor John DeCicco spent $3,736, $2,419 and $2,655, respectively. The entire council has an expense cap of $50,000.