Former president Donald Trump held a third rally last month in Erie, Pennsylvania, which sits in the northwest corner of a swing state that could decide who is elected. He won the White House.
Trump left without paying the bill, as he did twice when he was in Erie to embolden his supporters.
City officials have not yet calculated what the Trump campaign owes Erie for public safety costs at its most recent rally in September.
But according to a city official, Trump owes the city more than $40,000 for rallies he held there in 2018 and 2023.
Erie, whose accounts have been previously reported Erie Times-NewsIt’s not the only city that hosts Trump rallies and doesn’t get paid by the campaign.
Four cities and one county, including Erie, confirmed to NBC News that they are still waiting for the Trump campaign to pay bills for local law enforcement and other first responders.
The final price tag is over $750,000 for these five jurisdictions with some bills. dating back eight years.
At the same time, it is not always clear who is legally responsible for the bill.
Reached for comment, a Trump campaign official said in a text message that “questions about local law enforcement and first responder spending should be directed to the Secret Service.”
At least two municipalities seeking reimbursement said they did not have formal agreements with the Trump campaign regarding expenses before the events.
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told NBC News that it’s usually the agency, not the campaign, that requests local assistance for such campaign activities.
However, the Secret Service “does not have a mechanism to pay for the support of local governments during protective measures,” he said.
Guglielmi added that the agency has “identified this as a critical need” and is working with Congress to make it possible in the future.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign declined to comment on how she would handle spending on police and fire department personnel, as well as additional security measures provided by local governments.
The five counties that spoke to NBC News sent their accounts to the Trump campaign. One of the largest unpaid bills comes in at over half a million dollars.
El Paso, Texas, is seeking more than $569,200 in expenses starting in 2019, according to an invoice submitted by city spokeswoman Laura Cruz Acosta. An initial bill of more than $470,000 went up in the air when the city asked the campaign for a late fee because it didn’t pay.
In 2020, the El Paso City Council hired a law firm to “defend the city’s interests in collecting unpaid invoices,” Cruz Acosta said. Four years later, Trump’s campaign has not paid.
The unpaid bills push back even further for Spokane, Washington, which wants the Trump campaign to pay for expenses incurred during his May 2016 visit before Trump does. it became official Republican presidential candidate. That bill is more than $65,000, according to an invoice provided by city spokeswoman Erin Huth.
Hutt said the Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton presidential campaigns also still owe the city on invoices issued in May 2016. He said the Sanders campaign owed about $33,000, while the Clinton camp owed just under $3,000.
Representatives who have previously worked with the campaigns did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Officials in Missoula County, Montana, are looking for nearly $13,000 Trump rally in 2018according to an invoice the county provided to NBC News. According to the invoice, the bulk of the bill — about $12,000 — is for police officers and 911 dispatchers. County spokeswoman Allison Franz confirmed that the county did not agree with the campaign on the expected expenses before the event.
The city of Mesa, Arizona, is still waiting for the campaign to pay local law enforcement about $65,000 for Trump’s October 2018 visit to Mesa-Gateway Airport, a city spokeswoman confirmed.
According to a 2018 letter sent to the campaign by attorney Nancy Sorensen on behalf of the city, the bill would affect the Mesa Police Department’s job of providing officers for crowd management and traffic control, as well as the department’s use of barricades, towing and more. intended for rent.
Ana Pereira, a city spokeswoman, told NBC News that the city “recognized the circumstances surrounding the event and the venue, and that city officials are committed to taking whatever measures are necessary to protect the public’s safety without first entering into an agreement with the campaign.” .”
However, he said, “The City has calculated the public safety costs incurred from the campaign event the president attended.”
He said the campaign was not legally required to pay those expenses.[w]”I believe the Trump 2020 campaign should return these taxpayer dollars to our city, and we have invoiced the campaign accordingly.”
Likewise, Erie’s law was supposed to cover police, fire and public works employees, according to city spokesman Rob Lee.
Trump touched on overtime pay at his last Erie stop, just not in the way city officials had hoped. Instead, he highlighted the above-tax salary offer before giving his personal views on how workers should be paid.
“I hated overtime. I hated it. I used to buy others,” Trump said. “I shouldn’t say this, but I would include others. I wouldn’t pay.”