Update: St. Cloud Looking for Reimbursement from Trump Campaign

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- It's been a little over six weeks since former President Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance held a campaign rally here in St. Cloud.

Some residents have asked if his campaign has paid to cover the cost of the event. The short answer is no, but the city just sent out the invoice on Tuesday (September 10th).

Mayor Dave Kleis says the city had nearly $209,000 in expenses for the event held on Saturday, July 27th.

Kleis says the delay was caused by the campaign not responding to the city's inquiries as to where to submit the invoice. They sent it to the campaign coordinators of the event, and plan to follow up in 30 days.

Whether the Trump campaign is legally obligated to pay for the extra costs including overtime pay for city staff like police officers, firefighters, and public works is not clear.

Kleis says it's unconstitutional for a city to deny a political campaign stop, but it's also up to the city's discretion to decide how much extra security to provide.

He says the Secret Service is the department that requested the roundabout on University Drive be opened up for the Trump motorcade, so he says the Secret Service may be obligated to pay that portion of the bill.

In the meantime, the overtime pay will come out of the city's reserve budget for the current year. Kleis says the city is not dealing with a budget shortfall, so it has the money to cover the extra expenses.

Kleis used the protests and rallies that were held in St. Cloud in the days after the George Floyd murder as a comparison example. He says those events required a lot of extra security as well, but the city was never reimbursed.

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Meanwhile, St. Cloud State University says it has been paid in full for the $35,000 fee it charged the Trump campaign to rent the National Hockey Center.