EL PASO, Texas -- The city of El Paso spent more than $15,000 on costs associated with winning the All-America City award.

KFOX obtained a copy of all the receipts for expenses through an information request. The total cost added up to $15,416.

A 24-person delegation travelled to Kansas City to vie for the award. Half of those people paid for their own expenses.

But the city paid $5,022 for airfare, $5,662 for hotel rooms, $636 for a rental van and $1,437 for meals. Other expenses included $1,000 registration fee for the award, $756 for shipping and $903 for props.

"I think it was something that we had to send representatives out there for," said city Rep. Eddie Holguin.

Holguin, known as one of the city's most fiscally conservative representatives, does not have a problem with the total cost.

"I think they were very frugal in their spending," said Holguin. "You know, for the amount of people that went up there, I would have expected it to be a lot more."

Holguin said the more than $15,000 is a great investment.

"One, it might increase tourism," said Holguin. "Two, it gives a positive light to El Paso. And three, the city can use it to leverage more funds via grants."

The city of Akron, Ohio, won the award in 1981, 1995 and most recently in 2008. David Lieberth, Akron's deputy mayor, said while the award is like the Good Housekeeping seal for cities, there's no guarantee of future financial benefits.

"I don't think there are any direct results that are ever going to be tangible," said Lieberth. "No new business relocates to a city because it won the All-America City award."

But both he and Holguin said the bragging rights help.

"That's something that can be used to leverage more people coming into El Paso, staying in the hotels," said Holguin. "Of course, they pay a hotel/motel tax, and that increases our tax revenue."

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