Sunday, January 17, 2010

Travel Expenses: Stirring up the Pot in Marathon County

This'll get their attention:
"Honolulu" is the 37th word in the article

Link to January 17 Wausau Daily Herald article, "Board's travel costs tops among local governemnts."

Here's the gist of it.

$180,000 during a 6-year period = $30,000 per year / 38 county board supervisors = $789. Not exactly exorbitant, but by setting priorities and disallowing full reimbursement of expenses (what many library administrators have always had to do in this area), the county should be able to make some reductions. The article is not a hatchet piece -- supervisors are given ample space to explain the benefits of attending conferences -- but I sense the reporter feels he has a doozy of a story on his hands.

According to an abstract in the Daily Herald archive, an August article on city employees' travel expenses left some city residents shaking their heads, while others think the expenses showed leaders are doing their best for Wausau's sake. Wausau Mayor Jim Tipple has just recently created a committee to look into the issue.

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