Expenses

I have launched this page to provide my constituents some quickly-accessible transparency around board expenses.

Per Board of Education policy BID/BIE,

The expenses for which a Board member may be reimbursed include those as follows:
* Routine expenditures related to Board duties shall be defined as expenses related to DPS business, including: mileage, meals of Board members and those related to DPS business, telephone calls, conference-related travel (hotel, meals, registrations, transportation), responses to constituent mail, and other documented, related costs.

This policy has existed since January 2002.

I have pledged to not use any board expense funds, nor to seek reimbursement for any normally-allowed expenses, as indicated in the policy above. I bear the cost of these expenses myself.  My normal monthly expenses are as follow:

• $150 a month for cell phone
• $35 a month for internet connection
• $50 a month for mileage/transportation

My total, normal monthly expenses are approximately $235 per month.  Calculating forward from October 2010, as of December 2012, I have paid $3,290 in expenses that the district would normally reimburse to me.

By the time my first term in office is over, I will have paid for $5,875 in expenses that the district would have normally reimbursed me.

Assuming that board members have access to $5,000 per fiscal year (approx. $417 per month) for board-related expenses (we still have not received any official communication from the board president about what we’re actually allotted, as of 12/9/12),  since October 2010, I would have normally been entitled to approximately $10,416 for board-related expenses by the end of my first term.

By my calculations, the district will have SAVED an approximate total of $16,291 because I have declined to use any further expense account monies and because I am bearing the cost of my office, myself.

Current status as of 12/11/12