The bulk of that figure, $156,000, includes $55,622 for meeting stipends, medical, dental and life insurance benefits; $31,200 for auto allowances; $15,000 for communications, including cell phone use, and $34,000 for travel.
The expenses also include $3,500 for non-training travel, $3,000 for dues and memberships, $4,000 for educational and recreational expense, and $10,000 for food, meals, ice and water.
Treviño and commissioners Sally Arroyo, Ernie Hernandez, Ricardo Longoria and Carlos Cisneros will continue receiving most of the benefits in addition to the meeting stipend, all of which are not addressed in the City Charter.
Treviño, Arroyo, and Hernandez also will receive dental insurance. Longoria and Cisneros opted not to receive dental insurance. Treviño does not carry a city-issued cell phone.
The compensation provision of the City Charter only calls for meeting stipends of no more than $50 a month. City officials, however, contend they can receive the benefits because the Internal Revenue Service considers them “employees” for purposes of withholding taxes on the meeting stipends, and because the charter doesn't prohibit the benefits.
Commissioner Charles Atkinson waived the meeting stipends, insurance, and auto allowance, while Commissioner Edward Camarillo, by virtue of his employment with the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College, cannot receive any benefits, outside of reimbursement for actual city-related expenses.
Because Camarillo's employer is a state-funded institution, Camarillo is barred from receiving set compensation while serving on any governing board.
Earlier this month, Camarillo paid to the city the full $2,045.76 that he owed in benefits that he should not have received in his first five months in office last year contrary to state law.
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott issued an opinion on the benefits officials receive, but did not specify if these are received legally. District Attorney Armando Villalobos indicated that the place to settle this dispute might be in a courtroom.
Health and life insurance benefits started in 2000 under former Mayor Henry Gonzalez, while auto allowances became effective in the 2004-05 fiscal year under Treviño.
The Herald has requested a breakdown on budgeted items. For example, this fiscal year, the amount spent for dues and memberships is projected to be roughly $1,000 or under, but $3,000 was budgeted for the coming year.
The $10,000 allocation for food, meals, ice and water, up from $8,000 this year, is reportedly for functions including the city's participation in Mr. Amigo celebrations and for other events involving nonprofits, such as the Boys Scouts of America.
City staff was not immediately able to say what the $4,000 allocation for educational and “recreational” expenses would cover. The budget already includes a $1,000 allocation for training.
The budget also contains $15,000 for professional services, $5,000 for office supplies, and smaller allocations for equipment, periodicals, and postage.
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