Here’s how much the City Council, Mecklenburg leaders spent at their annual retreats

The annual Charlotte City Council strategy retreat in Durham last month cost taxpayers almost $45,000.

More than 40 people — including Mayor Vi Lyles, Charlotte City Council members and city employees — attended the 2 1/2 day retreat at the Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club to discuss key initiatives for the upcoming year, including transportation infrastructure, economic mobility and pending capital projects like Major League Soccer.

“I do believe it’s a good use of our resources, and I certainly wouldn’t say it’s a vacation,” Mayor Pro Tem Julie Eiselt said in an interview Tuesday. “It’s really valuable to be able to be in one place together and have those conversations.”

Mecklenburg County commissioners, by contrast, spent about $15,650 at their annual two-day budget retreat, held at Central Piedmont Community College on the Harris Campus.

On Jan. 29, the first day of the commissioners’ retreat, the county also spent $3,080 at Ruth’s Chris Steak House in SouthPark. There were about 40 guests at the dinner, where the commissioners, county manager and Mecklenburg staff met with the state delegation.

‘Valuable’ time

Charlotte City Council’s out-of-town retreat included three nights of lodging at the hotel, where rooms with accessible king-size beds can go for $199 daily. One-bedrooms suites, designed for up to four people at the Washington Duke, are priced at $249.

Charlotte spent about $37,600 on lodging, facility space, and food and beverage expenses at the Washington Duke.

An expense report provided by the city didn’t specify an exact breakdown of those spending categories. But individual guests who stayed at the Washington Duke for all three nights cost taxpayers $267 in total — for both meal and lodging expenses, said city spokesperson Cory Burkarth.

The city also incurred $1,350 in speaker costs, though not all presenters at the retreat submitted receipts, according to the expense report. For example, Clyde Higgs, the chief executive officer of the Atlanta BeltLine — an urban redevelopment project — was reimbursed $330 for transportation related to the retreat.

Eiselt, the mayor pro tem, said that if the retreat were held in Charlotte, there could be too many external distractions. The all-day, nonstop meetings, she said, were also valuable for the City Council’s three new members: Malcolm Graham, Victoria Watlington and Reneé Johson.

“It helps ... get to know each other and find out what everyone’s passions and priorities are,” Eiselt said. “There really is no other time through the year, except at City Council meetings, where we can have these discussions.”

Last year, the City Council spent about $58,765 for its retreat at the Renaissance Raleigh North Hills Hotel.

County commissioners’ spending

The county commissioners spent two days at the Harris Conference Center at CPCC — near the Charlotte Douglas International Airport — debating priorities, such as support for arts funding, affordable housing, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and public health.

A full-day package at the conference center cost $4,070, according to an invoice provided to The Charlotte Observer. That doesn’t include the hot breakfast buffet, which was $755 each day — or the all-day coffee service, totaling $380.

Production services, described as audio and labor on a separate invoice, were $4,380.

The county commissioners traveled to Greensboro for their 2019 retreat, spending $26,000 at the Grandover Resort.