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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAO 38 Travel Authorization Expense Reimbursements 04152003 Superseded , ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 38 i (REPLACES ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 38, DATED APRIL 18, 1983.) TO: All Department January 14, 1997 From: Gary Crutchfiel ager Subject: TRAVEL AUT ORIZATION; TRAVEL EXPENSE CLAIMS ; AND TRAVEL EXPENSE ALLOWANCES, Administrative Order No. 38 dated April 18, 1983, is hereby rescinded and the following Order is promulgated in lieu thereof; I . TRAVEL AUTHORIZATION PROCEDURE: All travel on official business outside of the Tri-Cities metropolitan area requiring overnight accommodations shall be authorized in advance by the City Manager, or his designee. Travel incorporating one day' s duration or less, shall require the approval of the department head only; however, if a travel advance is requested, then the travel requires the advance approval of the City Manager or his designee. Part I of Form No. 1983- 1 , entitled "Travel Authorization Request and Travel Expense Estimate" (see Exhibit A attached) shall be completed in triplicate by the employee • requesting the travel authorization and submitted to his/her department head for approval. The employee shall provide (in the place designated on the form) a realistic estimate of the travel expenses to be incurred and shall indicate the amount of the travel advance request, if any. The department head shall review the request for travel and, if deemed appropriate, the department head shall sign his/her approval on the form in Part II and shall show the fund and account number to which the travel expense is to be charged, and shall submit the form in triplicate to the Director of Finance/Administrative Services for pre-audit review and for an endorsing signature of approval, if appropriate. If the Director of Finance/Administrative Services finds the required amount of money is available in the indicated fund and account, and finds the advance is appropriate for travel, the Director will add an endorsing signature to the form in Part III and will submit the form in triplicate to the City Manager or his designee as final approval. If the Director finds the travel appropriation is insufficient, then the request form shall be returned unsigned to the department head, with a notation from the Director indicating the grounds for disapproval. Upon approval , the City Manager or his designee will forward the form to the Travel Advance Fund Custodian in Finance/Administrative Services which shall be authorization to prepare the advance travel check. The Custodian of the Travel Advance Fund shall require an acknowledging signature in Part V of the original copy by the employee to verify the receipt of the check from the Custodian. The Travel Advance Fund Custodian will retain two copies and give the employee copy to the employee requesting the travel . The Travel Advance Fund Custodian will keep one copy for his/her records and attach one copy to the Travel Advance Fund claims reimbursement submitted to Accounts Payable. II. ADVANCE TRAVEL FUNDS REQUESTS : Only elected, appointed officials, or employees shall be eligible for travel advances. Advance travel expense funds will be granted only for out-of-town travel (away from the Tri-Cities metropolitan area) of more than one day' s duration (involving overnight accommodations. If advanced travel funds are requested for expenses associated with a conference or seminar; a copy of the agenda is to be included with the advance travel request. Advance travel funds will not be issued for amounts less than $50.00. The 'Travel Authorization Request" must be submitted in triplicate through the chain of command for the approval process, with enough lead time so the Custodian of the Advance Travel Fund in the Finance/Administrative Services Department has a minimum of five (5) working days prior to the date of travel to process and prepare the check for the advance. A check for an advance will be available for pickup from the Fund Custodian one ( 1) working day prior to the beginning day of the travel. Exceptions will be considered for those occasions when short notice of the meeting precludes compliance with the time requirements. III. TRAVEL EXPENSE CLAIMS: When official travel is completed, all actual travel expenses shall be submitted to the Finance/Administrative Services Department by the employee within ten ( 10) calendar days following the completion of the travel period. These expenses shall be listed on • the "Claim for Expenses" voucher (see Exhibit B) and the voucher shall be signed by the employee and the department head on the designated signature lines and transmitted to the Director of Finance/Administrative Service together with the employee' s copy of the "Travel Authorization Request/Travel Expense Estimate'. In addition to attaching the employee' s copy of the above form, the employee shall attach to the claims voucher all applicable registration, hotel, motel, and auto rental receipts for expenditures. If expenses are associated with a conference or seminar; a copy of the registration and agenda shall be attached to the claims voucher. See Meal Reimbursements for meal claims. Receipts will not be required for taxi fares and for other miscellaneous items of a minor nature; however, the department head may require explanations where the dollar amounts appear unreasonably high. Any excess funds from the travel advance check not actually used for the authorized travel shall be returned with the claim for expenses. If an airplane ticket is involved, attach the page which is marked "Passenger' s Coupon". Please explain all items of expense which are not readily apparent. Tipping is an allowable expense, but no more than fifteen percent ( 15) of the original bill for dining can be submitted for reimbursement. The Director of Finance/Administrative Services (or designee) will audit the travel expense voucher for accuracy and will check expense items against the estimate of expense originally provided by the employee. All travel expense claims not involving a cash advance should normally be submitted monthly, except that any claim less than S 10.00 desirably should be held until the aggregate exceeds $ 10.00 and then be submitted for reimbursement. • 2 IV. PENALTIES : If cash advances are not settled within ten ( 10) working days of the ending date of travel, the Director of Finance/Administrative Services may withhold the amount of advance from the employee' s next paycheck and transfer the money to the Advance Travel Fund. No advance of any kind shall be made to any officer or employee when he/she is delinquent in accounting for or repaying a prior advance for travel. V . MILEAGE PAYMENTS : Mileage will be reimbursed at the "Standard Mileage Rate" as published in the Internal Revenue Service Publication No. 463 for use of a privately owned automobile for official business. If the employee receives auto allowance, any mileage reimbursement submitted must be adjusted by subtracting 50 miles from the total miles traveled. VI. MEAL REIMBURSEMENTS: Eligible meals are for City employees and officials when authorized official business travel outside the Tri-City metropolitan area requires overnight accommodations. Eligible meals will be reimbursed using actual reasonable receipts or a meal allowance. The reimbursement methods can not be combined. An election of the meal reimbursement method must be made at the time the Request For Advance Travel Form is completed. The meal allowance rates are the "Standard Meal Allowance" or, as applicable, the • "Higher Standard Meal Allowance" rates as published in the Internal Revenue Service Publication No. 463. If meals are required for a portion of a day the following percentages will be use as guidance: Breakfast 25%; Lunch 30%; Dinner 45% . The guidelines for determining which meals an employee is eligible for when traveling partial days shall be: Breakfast 6:00 a.m. through 11 :00 a.m. Lunch 11 :00 a.m. through 6:00 p.m. Dinner 6:00 p.m. through 11 :00 p.m. VII. MISCELLANEOUS : Only reasonable and necessary expenses incurred by city officers or employees while performing official duties for the City will be reimbursed. No reimbursement will be made for personal expenses and entertainment. The cost of a business breakfast or lunch, where the primary purpose is to represent the City, shall be eligible for reimbursement; in these cases, a receipt covering the expenditure must be attached to the "Claim for Expense". • 3 CITY OF PASCO EXHIBIT A TRAVEL AUTHORIZATION REQUEST AND TRAVEL EXPENSE ESTIMATE WRT l : (To be completed by employee) Name of Employee Department Date I HEREBY REQUEST AUTHORIZATION TO ATTEND THE FOLLOWING REQUIRED MEETING AND THE TRAVEL ASSOCIATED THERE- WITH, AS FOLLOWS: Title of Seminar/Workshop/Meeting: Destination: I will leave on: No. of days off the job: I will return on: Purpose: MY ESTIMATED OFFICIAL EXPENSES WILL BE AS FOLLOWS: Lodging: days@ /day LODGING: $ Meals: Breakfast: days = $ Lunch: days = $ MEALS: $ Dinner: days = $ Travel: Miles at 20 ClMile by Private Vehicle . Miles by City Car TRAVEL: $ Commercial Transportation Tuition/Registration: $ TUITION/REGISTRATION: S Other Charges: $ OTHER CHARGES: $ TOTAL ESTIMATED COST: S OF THE TOTAL ESTIMATED EXPENSE ABOVE, I REQUEST AN ADVANCE OF : $ PART II : (To be completed by department head) Approved by : Date: 19 — Charge to: Fund: Account PART III : Preaudit endorsement: 1 verify that the required funds in the total amount named above are appropriated and available in the budget account as shown above for the purpose as indicated, DIRECTOR OF FINANCE/ADM INST RATION SERVICES PART IV : City Manager's endorsement of approval : Approved : Date: 19 RT V : Receipt for advance: I hereby acknowledge receipt of check number for $ dated r 19 _ from the Custodian of the Travel Advance Fund. EMPLOYEE'S SIGNATURE DATE FORM 1983.1 Z F Z j F < 3 0 cs < ! ¢ 0 i es m : X = w ma Z H m LL E D a m `e a ar Z s E a y t P = y a E £ o W 'EE 2 2 ~ > a Z I W G < ~ Q wi a r L a " iY LL N � r i •°•v O w J m tt d w = J F I e o e W c a tf a m sm, e a s O H tt H p c `e Q [ I I 2 0 m O w P V IC ¢ C R J m a = w v . N a a° o o _u C.Z m O j U E ° a °L U �I I a W I I I v a p aC 2 L E .e C u j c ° s° E: cwc C e I u w u ° 3 aum j W L C 3 j or �T III a C v y Y Owa saa ? m _ R a " a IS me o C < ¢ m I Z go a pow ¢ ¢ 1 m O a F w u y O F —1 I I e j = °m W ti : a W b P m P O - N N O Al mi p . 9 P G '. - J s p I7 Z �u W 4 < - - - Ni N N N N N N NI N NI N : N < J O N . m° pe f 0 - N N < N t 0 P O - N N Y N f ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 38 1 AMENDMENT NO, I TO: All Departme s April 15, 2003 From: Gary Cmtchfi anager Subject: AMENDMEN TO ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER 438, MEAL AND MISCELLAN OUS REIMBURSEMENTS The following amended sections to Administrative Order #38 are effective immediately. VI. MEAL REIMBURSEMENTS Ovemieht Travel City employees and officials may be reimbursed for meals when authorized on official business travel outside the Tri-City metropolitan area requiring overnight accommodations. Eligible meals will be reimbursed using actual reasonable receipts or a meal allowance. The reimbursement methods cannot be combined. An election of the meal reimbursement method must be made at the time the Request for Advance Travel form is completed. • The meal allowance rates are the "Standard Meal Allowance" or, as applicable, for the specific travel destination as published in Federal Travel Regulations. If meals are required for a portion of a day the following percentages will be used as guidance: Breakfast 25 %; Lunch 30%; Dinner 45%. The guidelines for determining which meals an employee is eligible for when traveling partial days shall be: Breakfast .... .......... . ....... ..... ... . ... ... ........ .. ... . ... . 6:00 a.m. through 11 :00 a.m. Lunch ......... ..... ........... ..... ......... ... .......... .... ... . 11 :00 a.m. through 6 :00 p.m. Dinner .. .... . . .. . ... ... .. ..... ..... ......... . ......... .......... .6:00 p.m. through 11 :00 p.m. Non-Overnight Travel/City Business City employees and officials may be reimbursed for meals when authorized on official business travel outside of the Tri-City metropolitan area when such travel does not include overnight accommodations; however, Internal Revenue Service regulations require that such meal reimbursements be treated as taxable income to the employee. The cost of a business meal, where the primary purpose is to represent the City, shall be eligible for reimbursement, regardless of location In such cases, a receipt covering the expenditure must be attached to the "Claim for Expense" (per diem allowances may not be used). VII. MISCELLANEOUS Only reasonable and necessary expenses incurred by city officers or employees while performing official duties for the City will be reimbursed. No reimbursement will be made for personal expenses or entertainment.