Category: Finance
Policy No.: F-2
Subject: Travel Policy
Date Issued: 7/15/2019
Staff Contact: Finance and Administration Director
Last Updated:
It is the general policy of the City of Kenmore to pay for the reasonable travel expenses of City employees and officials while on official City business. As such, the City has established these policies to define authorized reimbursable expenses for overnight travel by employees on City business.
Policy
Employee –
For the purposes of this policy the word employee will refer to both City employees and City elected officials.
Travel –
Travel refers to any trip in which an employee goes out of town overnight on City business. The policies in this section only apply to overnight travel as so defined.
All out-of-state travel by employees must be authorized in advance by the City Manager in order to qualify for and obtain reimbursement. If the travel is in state the employee must have it authorized by their department head in order to qualify for and obtain reimbursement. Employees must fill out the Travel Request Form and get the appropriate signatures. Accommodations should not be made prior to obtaining such approval.
The following expense categories are allowable, as detailed in the following subsections:
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Meals
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Lodging accommodations
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Airfare
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Vehicle expenses
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Select other travel expenses
Employees will be reimbursed for meals on a per diem basis, according to the rates published by the U.S. General Services Administration at http://www.gsa.gov/perdiem. Per diem reimbursements will generally be dispersed to employees when they have filled out the required Conference and Travel Report Form after returning from their trip. Alternately, a request for per diem funds may be made to the Finance Director prior to the trip using the Conference and Travel Report Form. To receive a per diem check in advance an Advanced Travel Request Form[1] must be submitted to finance at least 21 days in advance of the trip.
For the first and last day of travel to or from a destination, reimbursement funds are calculated at 75 percent of the per diem rate in accordance with the GSA guidelines.
Non-per diem reimbursements will only be made for meals that are of a reasonable and justifiable cost. If meal costs exceed the per diem rates, the employee or official must provide a satisfactory explanation for each meal in excess of the per diem rate. The amount in excess will only be paid if approved by the City Manager and gratuity of up to 20 percent may be added to meals.
Meals included in registration fees or on flights are not reimbursable and will be deducted from the per diem calculation. Continental breakfasts provided by hotels need not be deducted from the per diem. In order to determine this employees must provide a schedule of the conference when reporting expenses for reimbursement. Expenditures not authorized as reimbursable meal costs include, but are not limited to, liquor, expenses related to spouse/family members, and expenses for guests or other persons not authorized to receive reimbursement under this policy. Expenses for guests, consultants, and other officials are not authorized for reimbursement.
Reasonable overnight accommodations will be reimbursed or paid at a maximum of the conference rate or the single-room per diem rate for the travel location (see www.gsa.gov/perdiem). Exceptions for unusual circumstances may only be authorized and approved by the City Manager or designee. A vendor’s receipt is required in all cases.
When purchasing airfare, employees are encouraged to purchase reasonable airfare that can be reused by the City in the event that the employee does not use the ticket. In some cases this may require a call to the airline before purchase to check and see if polices allow for changes or refunds. Only economy class tickets and fare will be reimbursed. The City will reimburse roundtrip tickets. In the event that an employee or official wishes to stay extra personal time at the destination, or add an additional leg to the trip to accommodate personal time, the City will only reimburse the cost equivalent to a roundtrip flight directly to the destination and back on the days preceding and immediately following the business segment of the trip. Documentation for the cost of the flight must be provided in advance.
Employees are expected to use a City vehicle for travel. If two of more employees are traveling to the same meeting or conference, then they should carpool together. A City vehicle can be reserved.
Employees must receive advance permission from the City Manager or their Department Director to use a personal car before travel. Examples of when use of a personal car may be permissible are when the employee lives closer to the conference than City Hall or the employee will be doing additional personal travel after the trip. An employee can seek permission to take a car home the evening before the travel if picking up a car at City
Hall is not practical. If it is not possible to use a City vehicle, the City will reimburse expenses in the following ways:
A. 
Travel within a 300-mile radius of the City. Employee/Official vehicle and gas expenses will be reimbursed at the going rate per mile determined by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidelines.
B. 
Travel beyond a 300-radius of the City. Trips will be reimbursed at the lower of (a) the established rate per mile (see 7.1), or (b) the lowest available (other than non-refundable) airfare for the business trip.
Incidental charges like tolls and parking are authorized as long as they are reasonable and necessary for the meeting or conference. Charges that are not authorized include parking tickets, speeding tickets, and towing charges if the vehicle is towed for parking in the wrong location.
If an employee or official wishes to add an additional stop for personal reasons that adds miles to the trip the City will only reimburse for the direct route to the event and back and subtract the extra distance added by the personal trip.
Miscellaneous travel costs such as bus; taxi; bridge or other tolls; parking; ferry; and payment of reasonable amount for porter service, bell person service, and the like (not including any maid service) are authorized and must be listed on the reimbursement form. Services like Uber or Lyft are normally preferred to car rentals, given that the employee provides a legitimate receipt. Rental cars must be approved before the trip if the employee plans on using one. Gratuity for meals is also included in the per diem rates.
Incidental expenses that are not authorized for reimbursement include, but are not limited to, the following:
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Personal entertainment, including movies and shows
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Theft, loss, or damage to personal property
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Expenses of a spouse, family, or other persons not authorized to receive reimbursement under this policy
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Barber or beauty parlor services
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Airline or other trip insurance
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Personal postage
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Personal reading material
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Personal toiletry articles
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Alcohol of any kind
Out-of-state travel is authorized for training not available or offered in state, and must be directly related to the employee’s job function. The employee must complete a Travel Request form and receive City Manager approval prior to making final arrangements at least 21 days in advance of the travel date. Out-of-country travel also requires City Manager approval and will not normally be permitted. Travel to Canada within 200 miles of Kenmore City Hall is authorized with City Manager approval.
For FLSA non-exempt employees, if the City requires travel away from home over a week-end, the City will provide a comp day. For more information regarding compensable travel time for calculating overtime hours see section 14 of this policy.
Instead of using per diem reimbursement, employees may use a City credit card that can be checked out with approval from the Finance Department. The credit card must be signed out by the employee by using the Credit Card Travel Form[1]. The credit card must be used for authorized travel expenses incurred while conducting official City business only in accordance with RCW 42.24.115. When the employee returns from their respective trip, the employee must return the credit card within 48 hours of returning to work with the receipts and an expense form completed. The City credit card is a privilege that needs to be used with the same amount of caution that you might use with your own personal credit card. If there are questions about what can be charged that the employee is unsure about, err on the side of caution and either check with the Department head or City Manager or don’t make the purchase. It is expected that purchases using the City credit card will not exceed per diem rates.
Unauthorized charges or charges not properly identified must be paid by the employee before the charge card billing is due. Failure to do so will render the employee personally liable for the unpaid amount plus interest at the rate charged by the bank which issues the credit card. The City may recover disallowed credit card charges not repaid by the employee before the credit card billing is due in the manner set forth in RCW 42.24.115.
Within five business days of returning to work, the employee will complete a Conference and Travel Report[1] that details the expenses charged on the City credit card and/or present detailed itemized receipts for charges on their personal credit card that are not covered by per diem meal expenses. The City will generally be able to process the request within two weeks of the employee submitting the completed form with proper receipts. If the employee receives a written notice that there are unauthorized charges, the employee shall have four days to dispute this decision in writing to their Department Director or City Manager. The Finance Director shall obtain the Department Director’s comments and the City Manager’s decision. The affected employee shall be notified of the decision no later than seven working days after the employee’s request for review. All decisions of the City Manager are final. If a receipt is lost or cannot be obtained the employee must fill out a Certification of Missing Receipt Form[2] for the expense.
It is the City’s policy to comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act when it comes to non-exempt employees’ compensation and overtime calculations for travel.
Employees are not compensated for their commute time to/from the workplace or assigned job site. Accordingly, travel that requires overnight stays is only compensable when it coincides with a non-exempt employee’s regular workday or, during the same work hours on a non-workday. The only exception to this is if an employee must travel by car and is the driver or if the employee otherwise performs actual work during such travel time. Time spent traveling outside the employee’s normal workday hours on an airplane, bus, train, or as a passenger in an automobile is not compensable. Only hours spent traveling during the normal work day are compensable. If a non-exempt employee travels on two consecutive days over the weekend (on Saturday and Sunday) the employee shall receive only one comp day per Section 11 of this policy. The additional hours of travel on a weekend shall be calculated and compensable as set forth in this section 14.
Non-exempt employees will also be compensated for time spent in trainings, conferences, or events in furtherance of City business. The compensable time will be calculated based upon the schedule of the event(s) (to be provided by the employee) and the employee’s reporting of his/her participation in the scheduled events). Meal time and social/happy hours are not compensable.
Compensable travel time is considered to be "hours worked" for purposes of calculating overtime.[1]