Well, a presidential visit to a small town can be a boon for the local economy and its profile.

But it can also cost the communities police department a significant amount of money and resources to help the Secret Service.

That problem has been intensified in light of the recent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

State and federal leaders today called a meeting to figure out how to help places like Bedminster, home to one of Trump's national golf courses and the site of an upcoming political fundraiser, Pay for the tab when it comes to town.

Senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan reports.

Rather than a wish and a prayer and don't worry, the check will be in the mail.

We'd rather know that those resources can be provided.

Bedminster mayor says empty promises won't pay for a heightened 24 seven police, fire and ambulance protection for Donald Trump at his local golf club.

The extra security was requested by the Secret Service after a July 13th assassination attempt on the former president and current Republican presidential nominee in Butler, Pennsylvania.

So far, the bill for extra local and state police protection comes to $1 million.

Bedminster is a small town.

Somerset County is a small county.

But when the federal government makes the request saying, Hey, can you provide some assets over here in the wake of what happened in Butler, Pennsylvania, you really have no choice but to say, okay, well, we'll help, but let us know if we're going to get paid on the back end.

Bedminster has encountered extra expenses covering Trump's activity here, particularly during the transition following his 2016 election.

Congress did approve extra funds then to reimburse local costs, but the current request is another order of magnitude, officials say, without disclosing security details.

Certainly after July 13th, the request for assets and the extents and scope of those assets are tremendous.

There have been increased demands and those demands need to be met.

And a lot of that is falling on the shoulders of Mayor Jacobs and the men and women at Bedminster, a town of 8200 people, 27 square miles, police department of 60 members and a volunteer fire and EMS.

And all of those folks are answering the call.

State Senator Doug Steinhart invited state and local officials to meet behind closed doors this morning to discuss how they'd meet such unprecedented security demands for presidential nominees over the upcoming fall campaign.

The Secret Service relies heavily on local resources, but there's no guarantee they'll pay for it, says Congressman Tom Kane.

The local taxpayers are providing a significant amount of the funding necessary to protect presidential nominees in states and towns across this country.

But now specifically here in Bedminster, there's a real time expense to the local taxpayers that need There needs to be because of this gap that was identified after the 13th of July.

Congressman Kane sponsored a bill that would let local entities like Bedminster or Somerset County seek reimbursement for extra security expenses from the Department of Homeland Security.

He's hoping for bipartisan support.

Members of the governor's office and Senator Cory Booker's office were in on this meeting.

The presidential Security Resources Reimbursement Act of 2024 has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee, but bills take time.

Meanwhile, local resources will get stretched to provide the stepped up security, which could impact nearby towns that depend on each other for mutual aid.

They're being deployed to to lend assistance there.

That means that they may not be potentially available in other places.

Purpose of the discussion today is to make it loud and clear to those in charge in Washington that this is their responsibility.

We're willing to do our part, but they need to do theirs.

Meanwhile, President Biden called for a bipartisan investigation into what occurred on July 13th.

On top of a separate probe launched by the Homeland Security's inspector general In Bedminster, I'm Brenda Flanagan, NJ.

Spotlight News.