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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRes 1551 - Travel Expenses and Guidelines and Credit Card Policies M �N11LA, O 2\ f O' Q 1908 Tu City o Washington Resolution No. 1 5,5 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TUKWILA, WASHINGTON, FORMALLY ADOPTING A POLICY FOR TRAVEL EXPENSES WHILE ON CITY BUSINESS, APPROVING A CITY TRAVEL CREDIT CARD POLICY, APPROVING NEW COUNCIL TRAVEL GUIDELINES, AND AUTHORIZING ADMINISTRATIVE POLICIES TO BE INSTITUTED BY THE FINANCE DIRECTOR PER RCW 42.24. WHEREAS, Resolution 1443 adopted travel expenses section, credit card section, and Council Travel Guidelines in May 2000, and WHEREAS, the Council has reconsidered the Council Travel Guidelines and has determined to try a new approach to managing their travel decisions, and WHEREAS, finance regulations have been updated since Resolution 1443 was adopted, NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TUKWILA, WASHINGTON, HEREBY RESOLVES AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. The attached Administrative Policy 03 -06, "Travel Expenses While on City Business" (Attachment A), is adopted for Council use. Section 2. The attached Administrative Policy 03 -16, "Policy Guidelines for City Travel Card Usage" (Attachment B), is adopted for Council use. Section 3 The "Council Travel Guidelines" (Attachment C) are hereby approved to take effect in January 2005 Section 4. All nominal changes such as the legal annual mileage rate will be made administratively Any other changes must be approved by the Finance and Safety Committee. PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TUKWILA, WASHINGTON, at a Regular Meeting thereof this 1 7 day of --AlQ.1 d 2004. ATTEST/ AUTHENTICATED- ilk t Hagg �K Council President Jane E Cantu, CMC, City Clerk APPROV AS TO RM Filed with the City Clerk: 1 Passed by the City Council. 7 Of�the Ci ney Resolution Number COUNCIL TRAVEL.DOC POLICY AND PROCEDURE ,sos Subject: Index: TRAVEL EXPENSES WHILE ON CITY BUSINESS FINANCE Number: 03 -06 Effective Date: Supersedes: Pagel of 3 Staff Contact: Date: Approved by 1/1/03 03 -06, dtd.10 /1 /00 Finance Director 10/20/02 10 PURPOSE. To establish policy guidelines on reimbursement for expenses while on City business. 2.0 DEPARTMENTS AFFECTED All departments and divisions 30 REFERENCES. BARS Manual 1.3.3.B and RCW 42.24 Resolution No. 1443 40 POLICY It is the policy of the City of Tukwila to reimburse employees for reasonable and necessary expenditures made while on official City business. Mileage will be reimbursed at a rate per mile; all other allowable expenses on an actual cost basis. All expenses must be itemized if applicable. Claims for reimbursement of travel expenses, other than mileage, shall be accompanied by invoices and/or receipts showing proof of payment. Where there is no receipt, an employee's supervisor must approve the expense. 4 1 Overnight Travel 41 1 Lodging. Hotel and motel expenses will be reimbursed upon completion of authorized travel and submittal of proper claim. A reasonable class of accommodation (single rate) shall be selected where choice is available. 41.2 Meals. Meal reimbursements for all authorized traps and/or training are to be itemized. Credit card receipts with no detail of purchases are not acceptable. Reimbursement shall be made when an employee is attending an employer approved business meeting, seminar, conference or training away from the employee's facility Employees shall be reimbursed for the cost of the meals, including a reasonable tip (no more than 15% unless automatically billed by vendor), using the following guidelines: Breakfast. $12.00 Lunch. $1500 Dinner $2700 It is recognized that on certain occasions and depending on location it may be necessary to exceed the above guidelines. Also, a higher amount may be necessary when included with a conference or training related event. Department heads should approve reimbursement requests prior to submittal to Finance, acknowledging meal costs that exceed the guidelines. 41.3 Mileage Allowance. Employees who use personal vehicles on travel assignments will be allowed IRS allowable rate per mile (the 2004 rate after January I' is $0.375 cents per mile). Each employee must have liability insurance of not less than that required by current Washington State Law ($50,000 1$100,000 1$5,000) on his/her vehicle which is used on authorized City business, as well as proof of insuran No reimbursement for mileage shall exceed the dollar amount of round trip airfare at the coach rate on a licensed common carrier, plus auto rental or taxi fare at point of destination. When two or more employees are attending the same seminar, convention, or meeting, carpooling shall be practiced whenever possible. Actual speedometer reading from City Hall to destination and return to City Hall will be used unless traveling directly from home and then the lesser mileage will be used. If an employee, for own convenience, travels by an indirect route or interrupts travel by the most economical route, employee shall bear any extra expense involved. Reimbursement for such travel shall be for only that part of the expense as would have been necessary in order to travel. 4 14 Out of State Travel (Except Elected Officials). Requires prior approval by the City Administrator in writing and a Training Attendance Request Form if applicable. 4.2 Local Travel and Expenses 4.2.1 Local Mileage. No mileage will be paid for commuting from an employee's personal residence to City Hall or a workstation. 4.2.2 Local Meals. Reimbursement for meals will be allowed only when the employee is attendmg a seminar /conference or as a representative of the City for a specific purpose, or where the employee's attendance will directly benefit the City Reimbursements will not be allowed for meetings which are of a social nature. The request for reimbursement of local meals should include the following information: a. Date b Place C. Meeting attended d. Specific reason for attendance 4.2.3 Parking fees will be reimbursed by actual cost and receipts shall be presented when possible. 4.2.4 Training Attendance Request forms, except for elected officials, shall accompany any purchase order form relating to a travel expense over $100 00 (i.e. registration fee, airfare, hotel). 4.2.5 Any special circumstances for reunbursements which exceed the stated limits must be approved by a department head and/or the Finance Director prior to completion of "Clain for Expenses" form. 4.3 Advance Travel Revolving Fund: The City of Tukwila maintains an Advance Travel Revolving Fund for the convenience of City employees whose necessary official travel might cause economic inconvenience. The Advance Travel Revolving Fund should be used solely for travel expenses. It should not be used for personal loans, purchase of airline tickets, registration fees, reimbursements to employees or officers for travel expenses already incurred, or for other travel or office expenses. Per BARS Manual Section 1.3.3.B. Requests for Advance Travel Fund expenses shall be made to the Finance Director or designee on the prescribed "Advance Travel Request" form, with out -of -state travel being approved also by the City Administrator. A copy of a Training Attendance Request form must be attached, except for elected officials. Upon approval, a check will be drawn on the Advance Travel Revolving Fund (no more than five working days) prior to departure of the authorized trip. Reconciliation of and/or repayment of unexpended balance must be completed within five (5) working days after returnmg to work. All legally expended items must be itemized on an "Advance Travel Claim for Expenses" form, accompanied by substantiating receipts and/or invoices. Until repaid, failure to do so will make any employee receiving such advance personally liable for the fii11 unpaid amount plus interest at the rate of 10% per annum. No advance of any kind shall be made to any employee who is delinquent in accounting for or repaying a prior advance. If an employee reunbursement is necessary, reimbursement will be handled by the Finance Department after the "Advance Travel Clain for Expenses" form is submitted. 44 Non allowable expenses shall include, but are not limited to: a. Laundry, cleaning, or valet services (except on trips of four or more consecutive days). b Tobacco. C. Alcoholic beverages. d. Entertainment, including in-room video rentals. e. Personal telephone calls or telegrams (except when on extended trips of three or more days). Calls on extended trips are limited to two, and the total cost shall not exceed $1500 f. First class travel accommodations when economy or coach class are available. g. Meals and lodging in heu of other meals and/or lodging when these items are included in the registration fee. h. Fines, forfeitures or penalties. r. Expenses of a spouse. Travel insurance. k. All other personal services such as barber, etc. � NL POLICY AND PROCEDURE 19pe Subject: Index: CITY TRAVEL CREDIT CARDS FINANCE Number 03-17 Effective Date: Supersedes: Page I of 2 Staff Contact: Date: Approved by. 5/15/00 Finance Director 10 /01 /00 10 PURPOSE. To establish policy guidelines for City Travel Card usage per RCW 42.24 2.0 ORGANIZATIONS AFFECTED All departments and divisions 30 REFERENCES. Resolution No. 1443 Finance Policy 03 -06 RCW 42.24 4 0 POLICY 41 Credit cards are to be used for authorized City travel expenses. Each credit card will be issued in both the individual's and the City of Tukwila's name. Only the individual on each card can sign for the City Credit card issuance is limited to elected officials and administrative personnel as approved by the City Administrator 4.2 Billing/Receipts All billing statements will come to the City's Finance Department for processing. Credit card holders will submit copies of all charges, along with the budget account number that the expense is to be charged against, to Finance with ten (10) days after travel is completed. The receipts will be verified against the statements by Finance. 4.3 Permitted Uses a. Lodging costs b Meals C. Transportation d. Registration e. Other related expenses Non Allowable Costs a. Personal expenses b Spouse expenses C. Alcoholic beverages d. Non travel related expenses e. Cash advances 45 Prior to receiving a credit card, an acknowledgment of receipt of the Credit Card Policy will be required. 46 See also Finance Policy 03 -06 for relevant travel policies. (ATTACHMENT A, Travel Expenses While on City Business) 47 Any illegal use of the travel credit card can result in alien against salary, if necessary, to recover the disallowed charges. ATTACHMENT C Council Travel Guidelines I Statement of Policy The Tukwila City Council encourages Council members to be actively involved in city, county, state, regional, and national organizations that affect Tukwila, its residents, and its businesses. II. Decisions About Travel It is the responsibility of the entire Council to approve the travel budget. It is the responsibility of individual Council members to decide upon their own travel with their travel allotment. III. Purposes for Travel A. Education B Lobbying C Professional responsibility, e.g., policy boards, offices, and committees D Public relations, i.e., representing the City E. Fostering better relations with local, state, federal and sister city officials IV Travel Budgets A. Budgets for Council travel will be set in the fall prior to the year the travel is to occur B Estimates of who shall travel in the next year will be made at budget time the preceding year in order to set an adequate budget, which shall serve as a guide in allocating travel for the following year C The Council will consider the City's financial situation in setting their annual travel budget. V. Council Travel Decisions A. Beginning each year, after funds for local meetings, the Council retreat, and mealswe subtracted, each Council member, will be allotted an equal share of the remaining Council travel budget for State, National and Sister City travel. That share shall be available to that Council member for use in travel expenses throughout the year B Each Council member will prepare a travel plan at the beginning of the budget year showing planned travel and expected associated costs. Dates and locations of known state and national conferences will be supplied as soon as they are known C Any Council member's funds that are not used for travel in that year will be returned to the shared travel fund which can then be used by other Council members 1 Council members desiring to use shared travel funds will prepare a Request for Travel Form highlighting the benefits to the City 2. The Council President will prioritize the requests to the Council The City Council will make the final decision on use of the funds. 3 After all Request for Travel forms are received by the Council President and no shared funds remain, travel requests will be denied unless additional funds are budgeted 4 if an opportunity for a conference or training arises mid year after travel funds are expended or planned for, the City Council will decide if the benefit to the City is high enough to warrant the additional travel expense. D Upon returning from a class or conference, Council members will prepare a written report to be distributed to the Council. If more than one Council member attends, a consolidated report may be presented E. Sister City Travel 1 Sister City travel will not be budgeted separately and will be part of each Council member's travel allocation. 2. Funding for travel to a sister city will be planned in the budget for the year in which the travel will take place. 3 Travel to a sister city will not preclude travel to a national conference if costs are taken from the Council member's travel budget or central shared funds. 4 The City will pay for basic travel on a sister city trip, including the transportation, lodging, and meals included in the basic price for the trip. All other expenses will be borne by the City Council member VI. Travel Expenses A. The City will pay for airfare, registration, hotel, and meals when a Council member is on official travel B When a spouse or non -City person accompanies the Council member on travel, his /her expenses will be separately paid in full by that person, and the City will not assume any extra costs for that companion The difference between the cost of a single and double room incurred when a spouse accompanies the Council member is the responsibility of the Council member, and will be paid at the time of the hotel stay C A record of expenses for lodging, meals, transportation, and incidental expenses should be kept on a daily basis, with receipts attached to the record An itemized bill should be kept for meals, especially when several persons' costs are included D A detailed bill or other itemization of the cost should accompany a city credit card receipt. The credit card should not be used for any non -city expenses, such as spouse meals or lodging. VII. Travel Arrangements A. City Council travel should be processed through the Legislative Analyst, who will coordinate with the entire Council. The Legislative Analyst can make arrangements for travel, if desired, and copies given to the member who will travel B Efforts will be made to secure the best cost for airline travel and lodgings in the designated travel city by planning ahead, and by taking advantage of any discounts available. C Council members can get travel advancements by completing the required forms in a timely manner Vill. Miscellaneous A. When a City vehicle is available, it should be used for intra -state travel B If a Council member uses his or her personal vehicle, mileage will be reimbursed according to Internal Revenue Service rules.