Gov. Sarah Palin has agreed to reimburse the state for the costs of nine trips for her children. An agreement announced Tuesdaysettles an ethics complaint filed in October.
The charges that Palin has agreed to reimburse include the cost of her daughter Piper flying on a state plane to the start of the Iron Dog snowmachine race in 2008 and airfare and one meal for daughter Bristol to accompany Palin in October 2007 to New York for a women's leadership conference, according to the settlement.
The settlement was signed by Palin and Anchorage lawyer Tim Petumenos, who was hired by the state Personnel Board to investigate the complaint.
The vast majority of the trips were appropriate, Petumenos said. He said he examined more than 40. But for nine trips, the personal benefit outweighed the public benefit, he found.
The agreement came a week after Palin said she would pay federal taxes on $18,000 she received in per diem reimbursements from the state while living in her home and commuting to her office in Anchorage and one day after her staff announced that she had given up the state vehicle she used while at home after it was determined she would owe federal taxes on its use for personal business.
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