Washington » Rep. Jason Chaffetz harps, often, about wasteful government spending.

The federal government budget is bloated and needs to cut back, he charges.

One of 435 members of the U.S. House, in the minority party and a freshman, he doesn't hold much sway over the $3.6 trillion budget. But he has complete control over one piece of it: the $1,478,917 yearly allowance for running his office.

So far, he seems to be putting taxpayers' money where is mouth is.

Chaffetz spent the least of Utah's three House members in the first quarter of the year, about $242,000, including travel, rent and staff salaries. Compared to the same time period last year, Chaffetz also spent less than former Rep. Chris Cannon, whom he beat in the Republican primary.

"We're going to come under budget" for the year, Chaffetz vows. "We have to remember it's not our money. It's the taxpayers'."

His goal is returning a six-figure amount to the treasury. If he stays on his current track, the refund would top $500,000.

Taxpayers foot the bill for more than $600 million a year for the congressional office allowances. Members must pay for renting office space in their districts, paying staffers in Washington and at home and for travel and other expenses involved with their official duties.

Each representative or senator gets a different amount to run his or her offices. In 2007, those annual

allowances ranged from $1.26 million to $1.6 million, according to the Congressional Research Service. Several factors, such as distance from the district to Washington and the size of the district, affect the allotment.

Chaffetz, who joined Congress on Jan. 3, has just one employee making more than $100,000, his chief of staff Justin Harding, according to estimates by Chaffetz' office. One of those, Joe Hunter, Cannon's chief of staff, says it costs money to run a congressional office and perform constituent services. Plus, he noted, Chaffetz' numbers are better because he's just getting started and some costs may not show up until later.

"There's just a normal delay," Hunter said. "All those clocks don't start running on January 3. It's perfectly normal for expenses in the first quarter to be lower."

Chaffetz did spend nearly $11,000 for a new office copier, $2,700 for new furniture and $1,478 to replace a digital camera Chaffetz' office says disappeared from the district office during the transition. And the congressman has spent nearly $5,000 shuttling between Washington and Utah. He even paid $315 for bottled water.

As for Utah's other two members, Rep. Jim Matheson spent the most in the first three months of the year, just over $300,000. His travel bill was more than twice that of Chaffetz, and his employee salary cost was $50,000 higher.

But Matheson, in his fifth term, says he tries to spend his money wisely, especially given that his district takes up 60 percent of the landmass in Utah and is the size of Pennsylvania.

"I'm actually pretty proud of what we get out of that budget for how we serve that district," Matheson said, adding he would gladly pay his staff more if he were able.

If his spending continues at the same rate, he would return more than $300,000 to the treasury from his $1.5 million allowance.

Rep. Rob Bishop spent about $251,000 through March 31, according to records. That includes about $210,000 for personnel and $12,000 for rent and communications costs.

He's on track, like Chaffetz, to give back close to $500,000 of his allowance.

Bishop says when a new member of Congress starts, he or she gets the equipment from the previous member but sometimes that has to be updated. Bishop, who took over for longtime Utah Rep. Jim Hansen in 2003, says he inherited some older computers and even manual typewriters that had to be replaced.

"I was very nervous because we basically had to buy everything new," he said.

Chaffetz says he's doing what he can to save taxpayer money, such as reducing the size of his Provo office by 1,200 square feet and buying second-hand office furniture.

"I think we're running a lean ship," he said.

Beyond bragging rights, there's a powerful incentive for members to come in under budget. Any costs that exceed the annual allotment has to be paid back out of the member's own pocket, or, if it comes to it, from the representative's $174,000 government salary.

tburr@sltrib.com