Alfred Dowe has paid the city $2,000, hoping to make good for the double billing on meals and travel that cost him his seat on the Roanoke City Council.

Even so, questions remain about how much he owes after it was discovered this week that his deceptive billing practices began six months earlier than initially suspected.

"It is Mr. Dowe's intention to reimburse the city," his attorneys, John Lichtenstein and John Fishwick, said in a statement released late Friday afternoon.

The amount of Dowe's payment was based in part on expense vouchers obtained by The Roanoke Times last month that showed he billed both city and state taxpayers for the same costs associated with five trips he took to Richmond in 2007 to attend meetings of the Department of Criminal Justice Services, a state agency for which he was a board member.

Dowe resigned from the council Feb. 23, shortly after the double billing was discovered.

According to the documents, Dowe sought reimbursement from the state for hotel and restaurant bills that he charged to his city-issued credit card. He also billed the state for mileage on rental cars paid for by the city. The total cost to the city in 2007 was $1,929.03, according to the vouchers.

However, additional documents obtained this week through the Virginia Freedom of Information Act show that Dowe's double billing actually began with two more trips in 2006, bringing to $2,568.45 the total amount charged to the city.

Just how much Dowe actually owes may not be clear until the municipal auditor completes an investigation.

Lichtenstein and Fishwick said the $2,000 money order they delivered to the city Friday may actually be more than what is due. Because the state and city charges for each DCJS trip do not always match, Dowe could be on the hook for less than what the city expense vouchers suggest.

In addition to showing that Dowe's double billing extended beyond 2007, expense vouchers obtained this week also indicate that he attempted to charge city taxpayers for a $168 steak dinner for two.

That meal, at Morton's the Steakhouse in Richmond in September 2006, appears to mark the beginning of the spending spree that eventually led to Dowe's downfall.

Not long after the meal, Dowe reimbursed the city $130. But that was only after City Clerk Stephanie Moon saw the dinner tab. Moon said she called the councilman and told him: "We can't pay this. You'll have to reimburse the city."

What Moon and other Roanoke officials didn't know at the time, however, was that Dowe had also billed the state for a portion of the meal of broiled scallops, porterhouse and rib eye steak, hashed browns and creme brulee. It could not be determined who shared the meal with Dowe.

In October 2006, about the same time Moon confronted Dowe over the bill, he sought reimbursement from DCJS for $30 -- the most allowed under the state's per diem rate -- for the same dinner, according to documents.

Although Commonwealth's Attorney Donald Caldwell has said that charging two entities for the same expenses could constitute a criminal offense, it remains unclear whether Dowe will face prosecution.

Mayor Nelson Harris said Friday that although he was glad to hear Dowe had made reimbursement, it's too soon to say what the city's position might be on the possibility of criminal charges.

"I think the only fair thing to do would be to hold a member of the council who commits a violation of policy or law to the same standard that we would hold a municipal employee," Harris said.

A decision will not be made until the city has the results of an audit of all council expenses that Harris called for last month. Harris requested the review after newspaper reports revealed Dowe spent nearly $15,000 on meals and travel last year, but before the double billing came to light.

Municipal auditor Drew Harmon said he hopes to have his report done by mid-April.

In an e-mail last month to all members of the council, Harmon wrote that the audit will cover spending for administrative supplies, dues and memberships, meals, gratuities, special events, travel and training in 2006, 2007 and January 2008.

"My staff will be reviewing supporting documents and at times may need to contact you and other parties associated with specific expenditures," the e-mail stated. "Potential findings will be reviewed with the council member involved and your response will be thoroughly considered before conclusions are reached."

In previous interviews, all six remaining council members have said they are not aware of any expenses they incurred for meals and travel that they now have second thoughts about.

Before Dowe resigned, he defended his spending on meals and travel. In 2007, that amounted to $14,604.03 -- nearly half the total amount spent by all seven members of the council.

Dowe said at the time that he was trying to become a more involved leader by meeting with as many people as possible, both ordinary constituents and movers and shakers, to discuss city issues over breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Although a few of Dowe's 60-some dining partners from last year have expressed concerns that he talked about topics such as his golf game and made pitches for his life insurance business, more than a dozen have said the meals were all about city business.

"All the time I talked to him it was city this and city that," said Ed Hall, a real estate executive who shared a $14 breakfast with Dowe in July at The Roanoker Restaurant.

Most of the meals in 2007 were modestly priced, with Dowe more likely to frequent a Famous Anthony's or the K&W Cafeteria than Metro or Trio Bistro, although there were a few visits to the upper-end eateries.

It's possible that Dowe scaled down his tastes for expensive restaurants after his $168 experience at Morton's the Steakhouse. Moon, the city clerk, said she made it clear to Dowe in September 2006 that such expenses were not acceptable.

Dowe ended up reimbursing the city $130.82 -- the balance of the Morton's bill after accounting for the city's per diem meal rate of $37.18.

Ann Shawver, Roanoke's deputy director of finance, said it appeared that a system of checks and balances in the city-issued credit card program worked in the case of that expense.

"It was a pretty expensive dinner, to be sure," Shawver said. "But at the end of the day, the taxpayers just covered $37 of it."