A budget-conscious Minneapolis City Council faces a vote Friday on whether to wean all council members from a $400 monthly car allowance.
A proposal by rookie Council Member Meg Tuthill would require council members, who are paid $78,394 annually, to submit actual mileage to claim auto expenses. They now can collect up to the full $400 monthly, although only a few of the 13 members do so. Some collect a smaller monthly allowance, some submit mileage and others take nothing.
Tuthill says it's time for the council to collect car expenses as most workers do, by claiming mileage at IRS rates. Such a move failed a year ago on a 7-6 vote, but the composition of the council has shifted with three new members who pledged not to take the auto subsidy.
Supporters of the allowance argue that it's a poor use of council member time to keep logging miles. But the car allowance has taken on symbolic importance among City Hall's critics, especially among online posters. The vote comes as city workers are being asked to take a two-year wage freeze.
Not everyone takes the allowance
Tuthill, who came to the council this year after running a small business, doesn't take the allowance or collect mileage payments. She predicts a close vote but said she's hoping the proposal will garner the extra vote needed to pass. Not everyone who refuses the allowance will necessarily vote to end it.
The allowance was adopted by a lame-duck council in 2005, days before several members ended their terms. Only four of the current council members voted for it. The allowance started at $200 but the new council doubled it only two months later. Taxes are withheld from the allowance so it nets less than $400.
Besides Tuthill, those who said they didn't collect anything from the city this year include Diane Hofstede, Kevin Reich, Gary Schiff, Sandra Colvin Roy and John Quincy. Robert Lilligren buys his own bus pass.
