Motorcades, Part 1: National Protection Costing Local Taxpayers Money

WASHINGTON -- The cost to protect the nation's top leaders is being called unfair by local officials.

WTOP has learned when Vice President Dick Cheney commutes to work from his residence in Northwest to the Old Executive Office Building, it cost taxpayers about $2,000.

According to documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, local governments are required to provide police, fire and EMS support for motorcades carrying the president, vice president and foreign dignitaries when they travel through city streets.

Documents show that District taxpayers shelled out more than $1.5 million in 2005 for more than 1,300 motorcades. The money includes payment for tens of thousands of police man hours as well as tens of thousands of dollars for fire and EMS support.

D.C. is not alone though -- Crawford, Texas, Kennebunkport, Maine and New York City -- are not reimbursed either.

A spokesperson for the White House tells WTOP: "On motorcades, the federal government doesn't reimburse localities for this police function, either in D.C. or other cities."

But D.C.'s Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice Ed Reiskin believes the federal government should pick up the tab.

"Ultimately it's local tax dollars in D.C. that are disproportionately going to support this. "These are costs that are caused clearly by the federal government that District taxpayers should not be paying for with local tax dollars. I think it's a responsibility that should be shared by all of the people of this country and therefore should be paid for with federal tax dollars."

Each year the District submits a request to the White House for reimbursements for public safety expenses. Included in those requests are millions of dollars in expenses related to the International Monetary Fund demonstrations, state funerals and Code Orange alerts, as well as motorcade expenses.

Much of the money is reimbursed.

For instance $268,872 for a fire and EMS hazardous material team at presidential helicopter landings was reimbursed, but $93,840 for fire and EMS support to presidential motorcades during the same time period were not repaid.

Since 2000, that adds up to more than $10 million of local D.C. tax dollars. As to where those dollars could have been spent, Reiskin wouldn't speculate.

"Any public safety resource that we're diverting to a non-local purpose is of concern."

Reiskin says the city has made some progress. Since 2005, the city has been able to request reimbursements quarterly rather than annually.

"We fund our first responders to perform these services and submit a request for reimbursement after the fact, so we've been able to shorten the timeline for getting reimbursed so our loan to the federal government is a shorter loan.

"The mayor has developed a very good relationship with Josh Bolten, the head of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. As a result, the District is getting much more support from the White House and the federal government than we did before. So, although we respectfully disagree with them on their reimbursement policy, we do consider it in the larger context of a positive and productive working relationship."

(Copyright 2006 by WTOP Radio. All Rights Reserved.)