The City of Rio Rancho has released its cost of hosting the Donald Trump campaign rally in September, calculating expenses of $239,475.

President Donald Trump appears at his campaign rally Monday evening at the Santa Ana Star Center. Photo by Gary Herron.

On Sept. 16, the Santa Ana Star Center hosted a Trump campaign event.

According to a news release, the total expense is made up of ancillary costs of the event, from activities outside of the venue, including personnel, closing city offices and facilities and additional public-safety resources in the area.

The city won’t seek reimbursement from the Trump campaign, according to the release.

City spokeswoman Annemarie Garcia said campaign officials have said they won’t pay for expenses outside of rallies, and the ancillary costs for activities not requested by event organizers have traditionally been considered the host city’s responsibility and outside the purview of the event.

“These are the costs the city determined necessary to ensure the health, safety and welfare of its citizens,” the release said.

The break-down of ancillary costs is:

  • Personnel time associated with planning for the event: $96,838.
  • Personnel time on the day of the event: $76,847.
  • Cost to pay personnel for loss of productivity (city closure): $57,972
  • Non-personnel expenses (food, traffic control, etc.): $16,184

The city received $3,675 in revenue from merchandise vendor registrations and was reimbursed, via the Star Center, $4,690 for emergency responder presence inside the venue. That revenue offset a small portion of the expenses in calculations of the total cost.

According to the release, the Star Center, a city facility managed by the private company Spectra, billed the Trump campaign $146,489 for costs associated with audio visual and production services, catering, law enforcement and security, parking and stagehands, all directly tied to the activities inside the center. The Trump campaign paid those event expenses.

The Star Center made a $48,000 profit, which included collection of parking fees, based on activities inside the center, according to the release.

“The City of Rio Rancho’s goal in September 2019 was to prevent damage to property, personal injuries or lawsuits, all while respecting the rights of rally participants and protesters,” said City Manager David Campbell. “With solid planning, collaboration with community partners and some additional resources, we achieved this result. While the loss of one day’s productivity was a large component of the city’s rally-related costs, we are pleased that the event came off without harm to the public or property.”