Trump's visit cost Louisville $9,000. He hasn't paid it back, and he's not the only one

President Donald Trump's visit to Louisville cost the city about $9,000 — a sum he has yet to reimburse. But he's not the only presidential contender with unpaid bills from the city. 

Louisville Metro Government recently invoiced campaign committees for Trump, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Tim Ryan, all of whom visited Louisville in August, for the cost of services provided by the police department.

None has paid the city back since letters were sent by Louisville Metro Police more than a month ago.

The invoices, obtained through an open records request, mark a shift in strategy for city government. Until recently, Louisville didn't charge campaigns for political visits, a spokeswoman for Mayor Greg Fischer said.

"In previous years, the city did not charge for costs associated with campaign visits," Jean Porter said in a statement. "However, in light of ongoing budget challenges, we billed for three visits this fiscal year that required Metro resources." 

Each of the invoice letters, sent on Sept. 10, note the dollar figures cover expenses incurred by LMPD, including the activation of the special response team and dignitary protection team.

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All three have outstanding bills worth thousands of dollars, records show:

• Trump's Aug. 21 visit led to 182 hours of work by 91 sworn Louisville Metro Police personnel, totaling $9,082.20.
• Sanders' Aug. 25 rally near the Muhammad Ali Center cost taxpayers $7,513.41 for 129 hours of work by 26 personnel.
• Ryan's Aug. 8 rally with Moms Demand Action cost $9,383.09 for 119 hours of work by 26 personnel — most of whom worked overtime.

Louisville is not alone in having outstanding bills from presidential campaigns, and the issue has come under scrutiny in recent months as costs have added up.

The Center for Public Integrity reported in June that at least 10 city governments, from El Paso, Texas, to Erie, Pennsylvania, have invoiced the president's political committee without getting paid. Together, those costs are more than $840,000.

And Trump's rally last week in Minneapolis led to a similar spat over paying cities for the cost of presidential rallies when Mayor Jacob Frey and his staff projected a price tag of $530,000.

"Having seen the strain his rallies have placed on other municipalities, I decided to stand up for Minneapolis taxpayers. That meant pushing Trump to do something that is both fundamental to society and antithetical to the way he operates: pay what he owes," Frey wrote in a recent op-ed published by The Washington Post.

Unlike the stop in Minneapolis and some others on the unpaid list, Trump's visit to Louisville was not a rally. 

On that trip, he addressed AMVETS, an American veterans organization, at its annual convention held downtown, an appearance that was considered an official White House visit and wasn't billed by the city.

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Trump then attended a fundraiser for Gov. Matt Bevin, where the president's presence was expected to rake in big bucks. The city did charge his campaign for that political portion of his visit.

A report attached to the invoice from the city notes that the detail ran from 3 to 5 p.m. — roughly the period after his AMVETS visit at the Galt House and before he returned to the airport, during which time he attended the Bevin event at the Seelbach Hotel, which was closed to the public and the media.

Porter, the mayor's office spokeswoman, said Bevin was not charged anything by the city for the cost of the presidential visit to his fundraiser. 

Other Trump visits — including a March 2016 campaign rally, a visit to the National Rifle Association convention and a 2017 rally at Freedom Hall — likely were not billed, since the city hadn't charged for political visits prior to this fiscal year, which began in July.

Ryan's and Sanders' recent rallies were held outdoors at the City Plaza near the Muhammad Ali Center. Both required police details, LMPD spokeswoman Jessie Halladay confirmed.

Other visits by presidential contenders, including South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg's Sept. 18 campaign stop at Play Louisville and author Marianne Williamson's appearance at the "American Descendants of Slavery" conference were indoors and did not require the same level of police involvement.

The city's special events handbook, last updated in February, states organizations who plan special events "will be charged for 100% of the cost of city services that are provided for your event." 

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Special events applications, under those new rules, must be submitted when the event includes 25 or more guests, when two or more city services are needed, when displaying fireworks, selling food, bagging meters, using large tents — and when an event will affect the city streets, sidewalks or Louisville Metro Government property, the handbook says.

That's included, to some criticism, rallies like the 2018 one organized by Louisville students to call attention to fears about school shootings. Rally organizers were told they may have to pay as much as $8,400 for security for that event, prompting concerns from free speech advocates and grassroots organizers. 

Fischer moved in 2017 toward asking special events organizers to use private security companies and volunteers for jobs that don't require a sworn police officer. That change was perceived as a response to police discontent over their role in special events details amid a spike in violent crime. 

If a group blocks traffic, Louisville takes a position that if you "close it, you own it," Kelly Jones, deputy director of Metro Emergency Services, previously told The Courier Journal.

Trump's visit to Louisville in August shut down Armory Place from Muhammad Ali Boulevard to Liberty Street all day, and had lengthy closures on parts of Third Street, Fourth Street, Muhammad Ali Boulevard and Main Street. 

Plus, parking on most major arterial roads downtown was blocked for the entirety of the workday.

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Spokespeople for the Ryan, Sanders and Trump campaigns did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent by The Courier Journal. 

Darcy Costello: 502-582-4834; dcostello@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @dctello. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/darcyc.