Erie, Pa., Mayor Joe Schember is seeking reimbursement from former President Donald Trump's campaign for an upcoming Saturday rally after it stiffed the city five years earlier. Schember told the Erie Times-News that he plans to once again seek reimbursement even though the Trump campaign did not repay more than $35,000 to the city for a rally at Erie Insurance Arena in 2018. Nearly all of the costs were related to overtime pay for city workers assigned to cover the event, including police officers.
"I think we have to try, and I feel like my team feels the same way," Schember told the outlet. "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 city formally requested a reimbursement after the 2018 rally when Trump's campaign had more than $35 million on hand. Erie is one of dozens of cities that have incurred significant costs when hosting Trump rallies that have not been reimbursed even as others received repayments. "Trump has been able to bring in millions of dollars for his campaign," Schember said. "He should be able to easily pay these costs to cities."
