ELKHART -- One question many people have been asking since the White House announced President Obama's Wednesday visit to the area: "How much is it going to cost us?"

The answer: Nobody really knows. Or if they do, they aren't saying.

Even the Government Accountability Office and Congress can't get concrete figures, since so many agencies are involved in the logistics of a trip.

Here's what we know:

The flight isn't cheap. In a 2006 report, U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee came up with the following figures: $56,518 per hour to fly Air Force One and $6,960 per hour to fly the accompanying cargo planes.

According to the White House Web site, "Several cargo planes typically fly ahead of Air Force One to provide the president with services needed in remote locations." If you assume "several" means three, that's roughly $77,000 per flight hours for one trip. It's about 440 miles from Andrews Air Force Base to the South Bend airport, so roughly two hours round trip, for a flight cost of $154,000. "The taxpayer bears most of the cost," according to Waxman's report.

The president travels "in expensive military aircraft that cost tens of thousands of dollars per hour. The trips also involve costs associated with the use of Secret Service and transportation, food and lodging for staff." Those costs, according to Waxman's report, weren't calculated because they weren't couldn't be compiled.

The Secret Service uses other federal agencies as well as state and local agencies to help, spreading out the costs.

"When the president travels, an advance team of Secret Service agents works with the host city, state and local law enforcement, as well as public safety officials, to jointly implement the necessary security measures," according to the Secret Service Web site.

Local law-enforcement authorities say that a mid-week daylight visit isn't bad. "It's a distraction, but it doesn't cost us much," said Undersheriff Julie Dijkstra. They use reserve deputies and on-duty officers to handle their end of security arrangements.

During the president's last visit to Elkhart, the city's police department estimated the cost at $14,000.

Sgt. Trent Smith of the Indiana State Police said his department doesn't release costs, but said there aren't manpower costs. "We don't get paid overtime," so it's just a matter of juggling schedules. If they need to bring in troopers from other districts they will, but those officers will also get time off instead of extra pay.

Wakarusa Marshal Bob Cunningham said his department also doesn't get overtime, so a cost would be tough to figure. "I haven't figured it up and probably won't. It's one of those lifetime things for our town."

Not everybody's happy about the expenditure. Many people don't like the increased cost in a time where the local economy's hurting.

"Must we bear the brunt of this expense again?" That was the question raised by Cynthia Guzzo in an e-mail message.

Thomas Bjornstad said it's nice the president has visited the area, but the costs could be better spent. "I'm not trying to be sarcastic or diminishing the presidency," he said, but "we'd do better in Elkhart County to just put 20 people to work than to have the president come to say whatever he's going to say."

He figures any money spent could employ a lot of people.

"I haven't seen that many jobs created in Elkhart that are going to last," Bjornstad said. "We hear all these things the president says, but what are we getting for it?"