At some point it would be cheaper to hire the trainer to come to you.
No it wasn’t. It says “she wants to be reimbursed,” which is a far cry from a demand.
The demand is implied. In this situation, there’s not much difference between “I’d like”, “I want”, “I need”, “I can’t/won’t unless”.
Then there is always..
“we don’t feel it would be a fair use of sparse city funds to pursue this training at this time”
Or you do something like if you choose to get certified on your own we will pay you another $100/month.
let her do the cost benefit analysis.
Hmmm. I like that idea. I’ll keep it in mind.