Opinion 93-31
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This
opinion represents the views of the Office of the State
Comptroller at the time it was rendered. The opinion may no
longer represent those views if, among other things, there have
been subsequent court cases or statutory amendments that bear on
the issues discussed in the opinion. |
PUBLIC OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES -- Reimbursement for Expenses
(travel expenses - of governing board member from home to
meetings)
PUBLIC OFFICERS LAW, §64: The expenses of the members of the
board of commissioners of a recreation district in commuting
from their residences to the place where meetings of the board
are normally conducted may not be reimbursed as actual and
necessary expenses.
This is in response to your letter asking whether
commissioners of the Rushford Lake Recreation District may be
reimbursed for mileage from their residences to meetings of the
board of commissioners.
The Rushford Lake Recreation District was established
pursuant to chapter 78 of the Laws of 1981, as amended.
Section 7 of chapter 78 provides for the appointment and
election of commissioners of the district. Paragraph (e) of
section 7 provides that the commissioners shall receive no
compensation for services, but is silent with respect to
whether the commissioners are entitled to be reimbursed for
their actual and necessary expenses. Public Officers Law, §64,
however, provides that every public officer who is not allowed
any compensation for his or her services is entitled to be paid
for his or her "actual expenses necessarily incurred in the
discharge of [the officer's] official duties". Thus, since the
commissioners serve without compensation, they may be
reimbursed, pursuant to section 64, for their "actual expenses
necessarily incurred" in the performance of their official
duties.
This Office has expressed the opinion, however, that the
expenses of a local official incurred in commuting to and from
the place where his or her official duties are normally
performed are not expenses actually and necessarily incurred in
the performance of official duties (see, e.g., 1980 Opns St
Comp No. 80-593, p 164; 1980 Opns St Comp No. 80-138, p 36; 26
Opns St Comp, 1970, p 84; 16 Opns St Comp, 1960, p 403; 13 Opns
St Comp, 1957, p 166). Thus, absent express statutory
authority (see, e.g., County Law, §203[2][b], expressly
authorizing reimbursement to county board members for travel to
and from their residences), the expenses of a member of a
municipal governing board in commuting from his or her
residence to the place where meetings of the board are normally
conducted may not be reimbursed as actual and necessary
expenses.
Accordingly, we conclude that the commissioners of the
Rushford Lake Recreation District may not be reimbursed for
mileage from their residences to meetings of the board of
commissioners.
December 7, 1993
Josephine M. Tyler, Chairperson
Rushford Lake Recreation District
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