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Board members of an insurance co-op for local governments enjoyed expensive overnight retreats with spouses at top hotels, high-end steak dinners and golf outings — and paid the chief of their trust an annual compensation of $432,000.

Utah State Auditor John Dougall says that shows the Utah Local Governments Trust has "a culture of excess in terms of wining and dining."

After his office Wednesday released an audit of that agency, Dougall said the trust is designed to help its 526 member cities, counties, service districts and others obtain the best value possible for insurance by joining resources.

"It looked more like the board and the trust were operating on behalf of the board members and the CEO," he said, "rather than on behalf of its members and ultimately the taxpayers."

The trust defends the salary of CEO Steven Hansen, but said it has changed its rules to prevent some the pricey perks to board members that the audit criticized.

Some of those perks included:

• During a conference in San Diego, the trust spent $382 for board members to attend a Major League Baseball game and another $300 on concessions.

• During a board retreat in Park City, the trust spent $430 for four board members and two spouses to golf.

• During a board Christmas event, it spent $2,118 for nine room nights for board members to stay at the Grand America Hotel (even though some lived within 50 miles). It spent $1,274 on meals for members and spouses, and $145 for parking.

• During a board retreat in Park City, the trust spent $1,664 for 14 board members and six spouses to have dinner at the high-end Ruth's Chris Steak House.

• Similarly during a San Diego conference, it spent $1,339 for board members and spouses to dine at Donovan's, another pricey steakhouse.

• The trust spent $2,270 to buy five iPads for new board members to allow reading monthly digital reports. Auditors called that unnecessary as the members had access to other computers. The trust also "could have collected iPads from outgoing board members" to redistribute.

Price Mayor Joe Piccolo, chairman of the trust's board, said in a written response that the board "did not violate any laws" with such expenses, but "recognizes it has an obligation to avoid even the appearance of impropriety."

He said expenses for meals and lodging will now be limited to new per diem rates recently enacted by the Legislature, and the trust no longer will pay any expenses for spouses. He said it "adopted an appropriate policy for the issuance and return of the purchase of electronic reading devices to board members."

Other members of the board are Utah County Commissioner Larry Ellertson, Summit County Councilman Christopher Robinson, Cache County executive Craig Buttars, Midvale Mayor JoAnn Seghini, Washington City Mayor Kenneth Neilson, Hyrum Mayor Stephanie Miller, Cache County Transit general manager Todd Beutler, Davis Mosquito Abatement District manager Gary Hatch, Talleyrand Improvement District general manager Bradley Powell.

Auditors, meanwhile, questioned the 2015 salary of trust CEO Hansen. It noted he was paid a salary of $297,340 plus benefits of $134,891 for a total compensation of $432,231.

"This salary is 86 percent higher than the average CEO salary, according to a 2014 executive compensation survey of similar entities," the audit said. "The CEO's total compensation is approximately 130 percent higher than the director of the State of Utah Division of Risk Management."

But Piccolo wrote that the trust believes the compensation is justified. Its own salary survey, before Hansen was hired in 2010, and another recent one, "places Mr. Hansen's salary plus bonus slightly above the middle of the pack of similarly situated professionals," he wrote.

Piccolo said Hansen has experience that allows him to do the job previously done by several employees, including acting as chief financial officer and treasurer. Piccolo said that has resulted "in significant savings to the trust."

Piccolo added in a news release that Hansen streamlined operations, helped lower or maintain coverage costs, and made the trust one of nation's most efficient and successful insurance pools.

Hansen did that, Piccolo said, while returning $6.5 million in dividends to members of the trust during the past five years, while there had never been a dividend in the organization's preceding 36-year history.

Despite such comments, Dougall said the compensation "seems well above market from our perspective."

Auditors also questioned a golf event that they said could be construed as an improper gift to sway local government officials to use their insurance pool.

It said the trust spent $4,350 on it, or $58 per attendee, for 75 people that included 60 who were public officials or employees of the trust's member governments. Auditors noted that state law limits such "gifts" to no more than $50.

Piccolo said the trust violated no laws and "exists only to serve the needs of its members; it does not stand to gain anything by influencing other governmental entities to self-insure through the trust." He said it will not exceed the $50 limit in the future.

Auditors also questioned the trust spending $73,603 for "promotional activities" during 2015, "which included payments for food, beverages, sporting events, candy, etc." It added, "Given the purpose and mission of the trust, we question the necessity of more than minimal amounts of promotional expenditures."

Piccolo wrote the promotional activities "are tied to increasing safety in the workplace and minimizing liability exposure and other training. Given the size and reach of the trust's membership, we do not believe that $73,603 in expenses is out of line."