Elgin City Council to Audit Credit Card Spending After Questions Over Uber Rides and Baggage Fees
Elgin City Council will review all council credit card spending after questions arose over $232 in Uber charges and $100 in baggage fees from a conference trip. No rules were broken, but officials say guidelines are needed.
Elgin council members face spending review after $332 in conference charges spark debate
Elgin city officials will examine every credit card charge made by city council members over the past year after a councilman raised questions about $232 in Uber rideshare costs and $100 in overweight luggage fees.
The charges drew scrutiny during a Wednesday night meeting when Councilman Anthony Ortiz asked whether the city should be covering those expenses.
“We as a council should be more proactive in discussing this and finding a middle ground on all this spending we are doing on credit cards,” Ortiz said. “We all get paid to be on the council, and a lot of these expenditures we should pay out of pocket.”
No rules govern council spending
The expenses in question did not violate any city rules. City Manager Rick Kozal said the city has a manual outlining allowable expenses for employees but no equivalent guidelines exist for council members.
“What governs expenses by employees doesn’t necessarily match what the council thinks is appropriate,” Kozal said.
Kozal noted that if a staff member were charged for overweight luggage fees, the employee would be told to pack better before being assigned another work-related trip.
Conference spending draws broader concern
Ortiz also questioned the overall amount of city money going toward conferences. The council’s budget allocates $9,000 for conferences and related expenses. Ortiz said approximately $3,000 has been spent so far this fiscal year.
He described an unspoken rule that each council member receives $1,000 to cover expenses when attending a conference.
“In my opinion, me being a normal dude and not being a millionaire, a couple of hundred bucks is a lot of money,” Ortiz said. “I think the community should know when a couple of hundred bucks are being spent to stay at a hotel or take an Uber.”
Ortiz also raised concerns about accountability. The council passed a requirement last year mandating that members attending conferences provide a report about what they learned and how it could benefit the city. According to Ortiz, no such reports have been submitted.
Council splits on transparency
The charges Ortiz referenced were made by Councilman Corey Dixon. The expenses included the $100 overweight bag fee and three Uber charges totaling $232 for travel to and from an airport during a conference trip. Dixon’s name was not mentioned during the meeting, and he did not violate any rules.
Dixon told Illinois State News Thursday that he supports the review.
“I wholeheartedly support transparency, and I support measures to keep an eye on all who are spending in the course of doing business for the city, including city staff,” Dixon said. “A complete review of all P-card transactions and reimbursements as well as nonbudgeted expenses that are being made by other city means should be extended to the city manager’s office and all departments.”
Councilwoman Diana Alfaro agreed that clearer guidelines are needed.
“There should be guidelines so it’s clean-cut,” Alfaro said.
Alfaro said she received her city credit card as a newer council member without any direction on how to use it.
“I didn’t even know if I should keep receipts or not,” Alfaro said. “Then I was told I had to pay the sales tax. I was like, OK, I didn’t know.”
Mayor Dave Kaptain backed the spending review.
“I’m a big believer in transparency,” Kaptain said. “This is certainly something we all talk about, transparency, so the public knows what goes on in government. This follows through with that. I will support that.”
What happens next
Ortiz’s motion asked city staff to:
- Analyze all council credit card expenditures from 2025 through the present
- Update the city website to reflect those costs accurately
- Return with recommendations for best practices
“If we are already doing best practices, we’ll keep doing it, but if there’s something we can fix, then we fix it,” Ortiz said.
The story was reported by Gloria Casas of The Courier-News.