Trump still owes the city of Erie, PA, nearly $40,000 in security and other costs for a 2018 rally, and this time the mayor is asking the former president to pay in advance before he returns on Saturday.
Erie Mayor Joe Schember told GoErie.com that because the city has yet to receive the $35,129 it says Mr. Trump owes from his 2018 rally, it will attempt to get the former president to pay in advance this time for Saturday’s 6 p.m. rally at Erie Insurance Arena.
“I think we have to try, and I feel like my team feels the same way,” Mr. Schember said. “We’re going to see whether we can get some payment from them in advance this time. It’s important to do this because we’re talking about taxpayer money being used to help make his visit more safe.”
The site reported that almost all of the fees were “related to overtime pay for city workers assigned to cover the event, including police officers.”
It costs a lot of taxpayer money to staff one of Trump’s rallies because the parking lots open in the morning. The gates open in the early afternoon, and the rally usually doesn’t begin until the evening.
Since Trump tends to avoid cities in favor of places where his voters are, the cost of the rallies, which is supposed to be paid for by his campaign/political organization, usually falls on taxpayers when the former president doesn’t pay his bills. For example. the Trump campaign owed El Paso, Texas, $500,000 as of 2022 for unpaid rally expenses.
Cities and towns can’t afford to stick to the standard protocol of hosting a candidate, providing services, and then billing the campaign because Donald Trump does not pay his bills.
Every site of a Donald Trump rally needs to demand payment in advance. At a time when local governments are struggling to provide services, they don’t the extra burden of Trump skipping out on the check.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
