Kyle City Council votes to continue credit cards

KYLE — Kyle City Council held a discussion at its July 2 meeting regarding whether city council credit cards should be eliminated. Ultimately, the cards will be continued, but staff is directed to bring back an analysis on council traveling habits for the upcoming budgeting process.

Council member Miguel Zuniga began by noting he would not spend time discussing the other members’ usage of the card, but would be focusing on the concerns that have been brought up by the community: “Ultimately, it is not our money. It is the taxpayers' money.”

In recapping the history, he stated that not every city has credit cards and since Kyle adopted them in 2021, there were immediate concerns of whether council was using them for personal expenses; thus, causing a $45,000 audit. Despite this audit, there were no “good answers” on the card policies. Zuniga then posed the question of whether they learned anything from this audit, which was no, according to the council member, due to the same residential concerns occurring to this day, citing travel expenses, lavish meals and more.

“This has a result that reduces the public trust. It raises questions, concerns about the management of funds, integrity and the responsible use of taxpayer money. But the largest negative impact I see is that it inflates and it imbalances all our council spending because it creates an environment to spend it all or lose it,” said Zuniga.

He further explained that this spending inflates the budget because it creates an inaccurate perspective of what each council member would need for next year’s budget, causing a cycle.

After, Mayor Travis Mitchell, who was attending the meeting virtually, displayed a document that had all of his out-of-city traveling since 2016:

2018

• Three out of state

• Four in state

2019

• Two in state

2020

• Two in state (one of which was the city visioning workshop)

2021

• Three out of state

• Two in state (one of which was the city visioning workshop)

2022

• One out of state

• Two in state (one of which was the city visioning workshop)

2023

• One out of state

•  Three in state (one of which was the city visioning workshop)

2024 (so far)

• Four out of state

• One in state (the city visioning workshop)

He explained that in 2016, when he started on council, the general consensus, both within council and publicly, was that those who requested reimbursements or traveled should be shamed. It wasn’t until a few months into his tenure that he realized the importance of traveling and continuing education.

“Ultimately, it comes down to difference of opinions about the job, [about] what makes a great council member; what makes a great mayor,” said Mitchell. “The argument about the credit card — I believe in my bones — is a red herring because what you will notice from 2018 to 2024 … is that we have developed more transparent policies.”

Due to these policies, council member spending is now available on the city’s website. Below is the amount spent on travel for each council member from Oct. 1, 2023 to May 31, 2024. All members are allotted $5,250 for travel expenses for the fiscal year, which will end on Sept. 30, 2024 (Note: these totals do not include expenses on the city manager’s credit card.)

Travis Mitchell

• Spent $12,377.45 on travel expenses, which is $7,127.45 more than the budget

Bear Heiser

• Spent $9,157.34 on travel expenses, which is $3,907.34 more than the budget

Robert Rizo (Note: Rizo took office on Nov. 14, 2023 after the general election on Nov. 7, 2023)

• Spent $10,005.39 on travel expenses, which is $4,755.39 more than the budget

Miguel Zuniga

• Spent $697.71, which is $4,552.29 less than the budget

Lauralee Harris (Note: Harris took office on Dec. 19, 2023, after a run-off election on Dec. 9, 2023)

• Spent $7,795.78, which is $2,545.78 more than the budget

Daniela Parsley

• Spent $8,278.01, which is $3,028.01 more than the budget

Michael Tobias

• Spent $1,603.97, which is $3,646.03 less than the budget

The total travel budget for all seven members is $36,750, but the total spent so far, with four months left in the budget year, is $49,915.65.

Council member Daniela Parsley brought up a concern that may not have been previously accounted for: credit card points. According to the council member, if she is using her card to later be reimbursed, she would be gaining credit card points and essentially be getting paid to travel. She also suggested having a separate category for traveling and meals to make sure that spending is kept at a minimum, as well as mentioning a line item in the budget titled, “community and public relation sponsorships” and questioned how it got added.

However, these concerns brought forth by Parsley were not discussed, as the mayor called a point of order due to Zuniga’s item not concerning traveling, line items, etc., rather it was only regarding whether the credit cards should be removed.

“It’s the usage, the daily usages that people are questioning,” said council member Michael Tobias.

In response, Mitchell noted that he often spends money in the daily manner Tobias is speaking of due to preventing residents, contractors, etc. potentially feeling obliged to pay for his food. Meeting over coffee in the morning, at lunch time or over a meal at dinner is often the only time individuals have to meet, due to these being the times they have breaks at work, according to the mayor.

“I oftentimes find myself saying, ‘Actually, I’m going to put this on the city [card]. I’m not buying it; you’re not buying it — the city is,’” said Mitchell.

“I want the council members and the mayor to always just keep this in mind. Whether it’s your district or not, every single item — and we’ve been talking about this — approved items, the approved budget, it’s taxpayer dollars. It’s their money. So, we can go on and on about travel expenses — it’s their money. We can go on about the credit card budget — it’s their money. The stipend [and] so forth. It’s their money … We have to go back to the root of it all … Trust and that’s what we’ve got to continue to establish to the residents,” emphasized Tobias.

He continued by stating that council members do need to travel, and he does himself, and that he has had lunch with the mayor before on the credit card, but that going forward, they need to use discretion on what they spend on.

Council member Robert Rizo had a different concern: whether the removal of cards would prevent individuals from running for office.

“Everyone should be afforded their right to run for office. Not just people that can afford it or afford to travel or to move,” said council member Robert Rizo. “The city picks up their travel and that’s good because somebody that doesn’t have the means wouldn’t be able to run for office.”

Mitchell made a motion to move forward with the current policies in regards to credit cards and reimbursements, as well as to direct staff to analyze and bring a proposal that more accurately reflects council’s travel habits as part of the upcoming budgeting process. This would mean, according to the mayor, that if the item moves forward, the cards would stay, but council would pursue transparency by adjusting the budget.

“When we say this is how much is budgeted for travel expenses for council members, we should stick to that. I think that is more transparent and a good compromise, but we can do that as part of the budgeting process,” said Mitchell.

The item passed 4-3, with Zuniga, Parsley and Tobias dissenting.