CCP 04-19-2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

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. . . Aeeordingly, as with many of the other issues addressed by the OSA, the question of the validity of business luncheon expenses incurred by city officials is one for the eity council to evaluate, looking at whether the expense furthers a public purpose and whether it can logieally be seen as a natural ineident of a municipal function. In this regard, we would urge cities to sct policies and establish guidelines describing under what circumstance the city will reimburse for employee lunches. Chamber of Commerce Dues Relying on a 1997 Attorney General letter Opinion to the City of Staples, the OSA questioned the legality of paying dues to the 10eal Chamber of Commeree. The Attorney General's Opinion, upon which the OSA relies, offers a vcry narrow interpretation of three statutes that arguably support authority to pay chamber dues. In particular, Minn. Stat. 9 469.187 - S 469.189 gives various eategories of cities, the authority to expend eity funds to advertise the "resourees and advantages" of the community. While there is no explicit statutory authority to pay dues to a Chamber of Commeree, it can be argued that the purpose ofa Chamber of Commerce is to promote the city's resources and advantages. In effect, the membership in the Chamber of Commerce could be viewed as a eontract between the city and the chamber to promote the eity. To buttress this argument, at the timc of approving ehamber membership, the city council may want to make explieit findings about what it intends to receive from its ehamber membership and why partieipation in the chamber promotes an important city purpose. Another statute that relates to this question, is Minn, Stat. 9 469, I 91, which specifieally "permits a home rule or statutory eity to appropriate not more than $50,000 annually out of the general revenue fund to any incorporated development society or organization of the state for promoting, advertising, improving, or developing the economic and agricultural resources of the city." Again, while not an explicit grant of authority to join the local chamber, a reasonable argument can be made that dues to the chamber of commerce could logically be seen as payment to a development corporation for purposes of "promoting, advertising, improving, or developing the economic and agricultural resources of the city. To help safeguard a city's decision, the city council may want to explicitly make findings noting that it used the chamber dues as a paymcnt consistent with the statute, It is worth noting that a 1997 Attorney General Opinion coneluded that this statute would actually authorize a contribution to the chamber, but could not be taken as authority to become a member. A final statute bearing on this question is Minn. Stat. S 471.96, which allows a city to appropriate neeessary funds to belong to a "county, regional, state or national associations of a civic, educational or governmental nature, which have as their purpose, the betterment and improvement of municipal government operations." The Attorney General coneluded that it "does not appear that Chambers of Commerce can be characterized as associations of a civic, edueational, or governmental nature, which have as their purpose, the betterment and improvemcnt of municipal government operations, even though their interests may inelude such 7