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Res 1585 10/8/1974RESOLUTION NO. 1585 RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING POLICY GOVERNING TRAVEL EXPENSE BY CITY OFFICERS AND EM- PLOYEES. BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN OF THE CITY OF WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS, THAT: The following policy is hereby established governing travel expenses incurred by officers and employees of the City, and all other persons specially authorized to travel at City expense. I. Administrative Regulations. Those certain "Adminis- trative Regulations Pertaining to Travel, Training and/or Confer- ence Expenses" , dated April, 1970, promulgated by the City Manager, a copy of which is attached hereto, are hereby approved insofar as they are not inconsistent herewith. II. Travel Expenses to be Budgeted. Generally, only those trips which have been authorized in the budget shall be allowed. All foreseeable trips should be included in the budget when it is submitted to the Board of Aldermen for approval. However, it is understood that unforeseen circumstances will arise which will nec- essitate travel. In those cases, the City Manager may authorize such travel if, in his judgment, refusal to do so will be detri- mental to the best interests of the City, including, but not lim- ited to, travel which is found necessary to obtain Federal or State Grants and travel necessitated to meet the terms of Federal or State Grant programs and contracts; travel to other cities or governmental agencies to review projects and programs within those cities the im- plementation of such is being considered for Wichita Falls or would be beneficial to Wichita Falls; travel required as a result of be- ing selected as an officer of a regional, state, or national profes- sional organization or as a result of being appointed to regional, state, or national advisory or task forces or to present papers on projects, programs, and activities in Wichita Falls to regional, state, or national organizations. III. Persons Authorized to Travel, and Conferences and Events to be Attended. Persons should only travel at City expense to con- ferences or events when the City, its taxpayers and citizens, will receive some reasonable benefit therefrom. Such travel should not be authorized simply as a means to reward a person' s loyal and competent service to the City. The following rules, though not necessarily exclusive, should usually govern determining the persons and conferences and events which should be authorized and approved. A. Board of Aldermen. 1. Texas Municipal League Annual Conference - Mayor and other alderman. 2. National League of Cities Annual Conference - Mayor and spouse, and any other alderman. 3. National Conference of Mayors Annual Conference - Mayor and spouse. 4. Texas Municipal League legislative session committees and legislative study meetings - Mayor and other aldermen. 5. Texas Municipal League Region 5 meetings - Mayor and other aldermen. B. City Manager. 1. Texas Municipal League Annual Conference. 2. International City Managers Association Annual Conference. 3. Texas City Managers Association Annual Confer- ence. 4. North Texas City Managers Meetings. 5. Texas Municipal League Legislative session committees to which he belongs, and legislative study meetings. C. Directors. 1. The national conference of his professional organization. 2. The state conference of his professional organi- zation. 3. The Texas Municipal League Annual Conference. 4. Certain selected institutes and seminars con- ducted by recognized, qualified organizations, which will enable the director to serve the City better. 2 JIFF , D. Department Heads and other employees. 1. Department heads may attend the annual conference of their state organization. 2 . Department heads and other employees may be auth- orized to attend selected institutes, seminars or workshops con- ducted by qualified, recognized organizations, which will improve the skills with which the department head or employee serves the City. E. Members of Boards and Commissions and others. Travel at City expense by members of the City Boards and Com- missions, and others who are not officers or employees of the City, shall be allowed only upon prior approval of the Board of Aldermen. Such approval will only be given when it will result in a definite, direct benefit to the City, its citizens and taxpayers. IV. Reports. The City Manager shall submit a report each month to the Board of Aldermen, setting out all travel during the preceding month by City officers and employees. Such report shall contain at least the following information: 1. Name of person. 2. Title or Department to which assigned. 3. Destination. 4. Number of days absent from City. 5. Total expenses. 6. How funded. 7. Budgeted or unbudgeted. 8. Purpose of trip. 9. City Manager' s justification for the expenditure. A copy of such report shall be filed with the City Clerk and shall be a public record. PASSED AND APPROVED THIS THE 8TH DAY OF OCTOBER, 1974 . JOI C-OA MAYOR ATTEST: C I T Y ' C L E R K 3 t The original of Form No. T.1. will be retained by the Finance Department and the duplicate copy will be re- turned to the employee. On or before the fifth day after the employee has re- turned from his trip, he or she will fill out Form No. T.2. entitled "Itemized Account of Travel and/or Con- ference Expenses" in duplicate. An itemized list of expenses will be stated on this form and motel or hotel room rate receipts will be attached along with any other appropriate receipts. If an employee over-expends his per diem allowance, his reasons for over-expending must be documented through proper receipts. Recompensation for over-expenditure must be approved by the City Manager. This form will be signed by the employee, his department head, the departmental director and the Director of Finance. The original copy of Form No. T.2. will then be attached to the original request Form No. T. 1. , and the duplicate copy of Form No. T.2. will be returned to the employee. Any unused funds will be returned to Finance and credited0")to the proper account. In a like manner, any adjustments for justified over-expenditures incurred by the employee will be noted, and the employee will be recompensated. B. Recompensation for travel expenses: An employee should seek an advancement of funds in all cases; however, it is realized that situations will arise that will not permit the employee to do so. When due to unforeseeable circum- stances, a department head and/or departmental director deems that it would be in the City's best interest for an employee to make an immediate trip, an emergency request in the form of a memorandum may be made directly to the City Manager for authorization. In such cases, only Form No. T.2. entitled "Itemized Account of Travel and/or Conference Expenses" will be filled out in duplicate within five (5) days after the employee has returned from his trip and sent to the Director of Finance. The original copy of the form will be filed in Finance along with the necessary support data and the duplicate copy of the form will be returned to the employee. A copy of the memorandum from the City Manager noting his approval of the trip should also be attached to Form No. T.2. Funds for recompensation will be remitted to the employee, n rt 73 - C.._]ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS PERTAINING TO TRAVEL, TRAINING AND/OR CONFERENCE EXPENSES April, 1970 I. PURPOSE City employees are often required to travel in order for the Citytoreceivecertainbenefits. These benefits fall in the areas of training, exchanging ideas, accomplishing a certain task on behalf of the City and/or solving a particular problem on behalf of the City. Due to the necessity for travel, the following regulations have been promulgated to provide consistency in submitting and pro- cessing travel requests and to establish proper accounting pro- cedures for budgeted travel. II. SCOPE This policy statement is effective for all regular city employees, for all employees of the USAC project, for members of the Board of Aldermen and for members of the various Citizen's Boards and Com- missions. III. PROCEDURES FOR PROCURING TRAVEL EXPENSES A. Advances: Advances for anticipated travel expenses should be requested at least three (3) days prior to the expected departure date. In computing the amount of the advance to be requested, re- ference should be made to Section IV.A. "Maximum per diem allowable" . Where, due to confirmed motel or hotel rates, the maximum per diem allowable is not sufficient, the City Manager may authorize a per diem in excess of this stated amount. The request for advance should be made in duplicate on Form No. T. 1. entitled "Request for Travel and/or Advance Expense Allowance". This form shall be signed by the employee's department head and departmental director. The director will forward the request to the Director of Finance who will approve the request provided funds have been bud- geted for the subject travel. If funds have not been bud- geted or if the request exceeds appropriated funds, approval must be obtained from the City Manager. n 72 - 0 IV. PER DIEM ALLOWANCE The per diem allowance shall cover actual expenses for lodging,meals, tips and transportation between the place(s) where business is conducted and where lodging and/or meals are provided. A. Maximum per diem allowable: In State Out of State Meals (3) 7.00 10.00 Lodging 15.00 20.00 Incidentals 3.00 5.00 Total 25.00 35.00 B. Means of computing per diem: 1) In computing per diem expenses for travel continuing over a 24-hour period, the calendar day (midnight to midnight) will be the unit. 2) For travel of less than 24 hours and/or a nights lodging is not required, the per diem rate should be adjusted downward to only re- flect costs for meals and other incidentals. V. APPROVED EXPENDITURES A. Transportation: 1) Air Travel: If possible, employees will travel in "tourist class" flight status . First class flight passage will be allowed only in instances where scheduling makes the first class flight more desireable, or when it otherwise serves the best interest of the City. Round trip tickets should be purchased if possible and if it is advantageous to do so. Unused trans- portation tickets shall be returned to the City's Finance Office in order for reimbursements to be effected. The City is exempt from payment of the Federal tax on transportation. It will be the responsibility of the traveling employee to secure this exemption C ' 74 — itit4) from the public conveyance firms at the time the tickets are purchased. 2) City Vehicle: When automobile is the chosen mode of transportation, city-owned vehicles are to be used if available. If feasible and convenient to do so, employees should pool transportation facilities, particu- larly on short trips involving several employees. City credit cards are available for gas and oil expenses. These cards can be obtained in the Assistant City Manager 's office. 3) Personal Vehicles: City employees may use pri- vate automobiles only incases where a city- owned vehicle is not available. In such cases, the employee will be given a flat rate of 10 cents per mile. Mileage will be computed from the latest official map published by the Texas Highway Department for trips made inside the State. Mileage driven outside of the State will be computed from the latest official maps pub- lished by the American Automobile Association. When personal automobiles are used, total mileage to be considered for reimbursement shall in no case exceed the cost of tourist class air passage if such service is available. The payment of such mileage will be based on the most direct route from the point of departure to the point of destination. 4) Official long distance calls: Charges for long distance telephone calls on official business will be allowed provided that the call is charged to the appropriate department's phone number used for long distance calls . 5) Registration fees: Conference and/or training regis- tration fees will be paid: in full by the City in ad- dition to per diem allowance. 6) Car rental: If a car is rented while an employee is traveling, it must be the most practical means of transportation available. If this type of trans- portation is anticipated, city credit cards should be used. 75 — n 7) Accompaniment by spouses: When it is deemed proper to represent the City and to meet the courtesies of protocol, spouses may accompany the employee on official city business. The spouses' registration fee and the additional hotel or motel cost of a double occupancy room versus the cost of a single occupancy room will be allowed. Meals and/or trans- portation costs will not be allowed unless authorized by the City Manager. The latter rule may be waived for members of the Board of Aldermen. VI. GENERAL POLICIES A. Unanticipated or substitution of travel expenses: 1) Unanticipated travel, conference and/or training expenses may be approved by the City Manager after such approval is granted by the departmental director. Approval will only be made if surplus funds are avail- able from within the department's budget and/or when such travel is deemed to be in the best interest of the City. Request for approval is to be made in the form of a memorandum to the City Manager. A copy of this memorandum noting the City Manager's approval will be attached to Form Nos. T. l. and/or T.2. as the situation warrants and forwarded to Finance. 2) Substitution of approved travel, conference and/or training expenses may be requested subject to the de- partment head's and/or departmental director's approval if the substitution is not in excess of the original appropriation for which subject substitution is made. A request for substitution should be made in the form of a memorandum to the Director of Finance. If the substitution is in excess of the appropriated funds allowed for the original trip, the City Manager's approval is necessary. The Director of Finance will forward the request memorandum to the Manager for his approval or disapproval. This memorandum will be attached to Form Nos. T. 1. and/or T.2. by the Finance Department. B. Estimating travel allowance for budget purposes: Pursuant to budget formulation instructions - budget work from AB13 en- titled "Request for Travel - Boards and Local Meetings" - Budget 76 — 1pr' 1 l i II requests travelthebasis for l allowance ment, of allowance as set should be calculated on policy state-C• Procedure: Advanceshallbesubmitted ( T.1.) and Itemized (T,2;) exshallbeexpense formsx ty the em routed for to the Finance Deemployee shall to his authorization Department.y director and to his her) department head on and execution from The City Manager's Finance in the departmentalTheCitya s authorization foregoing order.following instances:and approval is required inr1) Proposed expenses are not budge Itemized Proposed ex ted, expenses exceed bud3) Itzed budget funds for travel. maxim per expenses or advance requestedm allowance, exceeds the r 4)M ileage is requested for use of personal car. ril 1 r 77 1 ofu g RESOLUTION NO. 1585 RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING POLICY GOVERNING TRAVEL EXPENSE BY CITY OFFICERS AND EM- PLOYEES. BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN OF THE CITY OF WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS, THAT: The following policy is hereby established governing travel expenses incurred by officers and employees of the City, and all other persons specially authorized to travel at City expense. I. Administrative Regulations. Those certain "Adminis- trative Regulations Pertaining to Travel, Training and/or Confer- ence Expenses" , dated April, 1970, promulgated by the City Manager, a copy of which is attached hereto, are hereby approved insofar as they are not inconsistent herewith. II. Travel Expenses to be Budgeted. Generally, only those trips which have been authorized in the budget shall be allowed. All foreseeable trips should be included in the budget when it is submitted to the Board of Aldermen for approval. However, it is understood that unforeseen circumstances will arise which will nec- essitate travel. In those cases, the City Manager may authorize such travel if, in his judgment, refusal to do so will be detri- mental to the best interests of the City, including, but not lim- ited to, travel which is found necessary to obtain Federal or State Grants and travel necessitated to meet the terms of Federal or State Grant programs and contracts; travel to other cities or governmental agencies to review projects and programs within those cities the im- plementation of such is being considered for Wichita Falls or would be beneficial to Wichita Falls; travel required as a result of be- ing selected as an officer of a regional, state, or national profes- sional organization or as a result of being appointed to regional, state, or national advisory or task forces or to present papers on projects, programs, and activities in Wichita Falls to regional, state, or national organizations. III. Persons Authorized to Travel, and Conferences and Events to be Attended. Persons should only travel at City expense to con- ferences or events when the City, its taxpayers and citizens, will receive some reasonable benefit therefrom. Such travel should not be authorized simply as a means to reward a person' s loyal and competent service to the City. The following rules, though not necessarily exclusive., should usually govern determining the persons and conferences and events which should be authorized and approved. A. Board of Aldermen. 1. Texas Municipal League Annual Conference - Mayor and other alderman. 2. .National League of Cities Annual Conference Mayor and spouse, and any other alderman. 3. National Conference of Mayors Annual Conference - Mayor and spouse. 4. Texas Municipal League legislative session committees and legislative study meetings - Mayor and other aldermen. 5. Texas Municipal League Region 5 meetings - Mayor and other aldermen. B. City Manager. 1. Texas Municipal League Annual Conference. 2. International City Managers Association Annual Conference. 3. Texas City Managers Association Annual Confer- ence. 4. North Texas City Managers Meetings. 5. Texas Municipal League Legislative session committees to which he belongs, and legislative study meetings. C. Directors. 1. The national conference of his professional organization. 2. The state conference of his professional organi- zation. 3. The Texas Municipal League Annual Conference. 4. Certain selected institutes and seminars con- ducted by recognized, qualified organizations, which will enable the director to serve the City better. 2 - D. Department Heads and other employees. 1. Department heads may attend the annual conference of their state organization. 2 . Department heads and other employees may be auth- orized to attend selected institutes, seminars or workshops con- ducted by qualified, recognized organizations, which will improve the skills with which the department head or employee serves the City. E. Members of Boards and Commissions and others. Travel at City expense by members of the City Boards and Com- missions, and others who are not officers or employees of the City, shall be allowed only upon prior approval of the Board of Aldermen. Such approval will only be given when it will result in a definite, direct benefit to the City, its citizens and taxpayers. IV. Reports. The City Manager shall submit a report each month to the Board of Aldermen, setting out all travel during the preceding month by City officers and employees. Such report shall contain at least the following information: 1 . Name of person. 2 . Title or Department to which assigned. 3. Destination. 4. Number of days absent from City. 5. Total expenses. 6. How funded. 7 . Budgeted or unbudgeted. 8. Purpose of trip. 9. City Manager' s justification for the expenditure. A copy of such report shall be filed with the City Clerk and shall be a public record. PASSED AND APPROVED THIS THE 8TH DAY OF OCTOBER, 1974 . M A Y O R ATTEST: J C I T Y ' C L E R K 3 - ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS PERTAINING TO TRAVEL, TRAINING AND/OR CONFERENCE EXPENSES April, 1970 I. PURPOSE City employees are often required to travel in order for the City to receive certain benefits. These benefits fall in the areas of training, exchanging ideas, accomplishing a certain task on behalf of the City and/or solving a particular problem on behalf of the City. Due to the necessity for travel, the following regulations have been promulgated to provide consistency in submitting and pro- cessing travel requests and to establish proper accounting pro- cedures for budgeted travel. II. . SCOPE This policy statement is effective for all regular city employees, for all employees of the USAC project, for members of the Board of Aldermen and for members of the various Citizen's Boards and Com- missions. ems III. PROCEDURES FOR PROCURING TRAVEL EXPENSES A. Advances: Advances for anticipated travel expenses shou'id be requested at least three (3) days prior to ti,e. departure date. In computing the amount of the advance to be requested, re- ference should be made to Section IV.A. "Maximum per diem allowable" . Where, due to confirmed motel or hotel rates, the maximum per diem allowable is not sufficient, the City Manager may authorize a per diem in excess of this stated amount. The request for advance should be made in duplicate on Form No. T. 1. entitled "Request for Travel and/or Advance Expense Allowance". This form shall be signed by the employee's department head and departmental director. The director will forward the request to the Director of Finance who will approve the request provided funds have been bud- geted for the subject travel. If funds have not been bud- geted or if the request exceeds appropriated funds, approval must be obtained from the City Manager. 72 — n The original of Form No. T.1. will be retained by the Finance Department and the duplicate copy will be re- turned to the employee. On or before the fifth day after the employee has re- turned from his trip, he or she will fill out Form No. T.2. entitled "Itemized Account of Travel and/or Con- ference Expenses" in duplicate. An itemized list of expenses will be stated on this form and motel or hotel room rate receipts will be attached along with any other appropriate receipts. If an employee over-expends his per diem allowance, his reasons for over-expending mustbedocumentedthroughproperreceipts. Recompensation for over-expenditure must be approved by the City Manager. This form will be signed by the employee, his department head, the departmental director and the Director of Finance. The original copy of Form No. T.2. will then be attached to the original request Form No. T. 1. , and the duplicate copy of Form No. T.2. will be returned to the employee. Any unused funds will be returned to Finance and credited to the proper account. In a like manner, any adjustments for justified over-expenditures incurred by the employee will be noted, and the employee will be recompensated. B. Recompensation for travel expenses: An employee should seek an advancement of funds in all cases; however, it is realized that situations will arise that will not permit the employee to do so. When due to unforeseeable circum- stances, a department head and/or departmental director deems that it would be in the City's best interest for an employee to make an immediate trip, an emergency request in the form of a memorandum may be made directly to the City Manager for authorization. In such cases, only Form No. T.2. entitled "Itemized Account of Travel and/or Conference Expenses" will be filled out in duplicate within five (5) days after the employee has returned from his trip and sent to the Director of Finance. The original copy of the form will be filed in Finance along with the necessary support data and the duplicate copy of the form will be returned. to the employee. A copy of the memorandum from the City Manager noting his approval of the trip should also be attached to Form No. T.2. Funds for recompensation will be remitted to the employee. f 73 — IV. PER DIEM ALLOWANCE The per diem allowance shall cover actual expenses for lodging, meals, tips and transportation between the place(s) where business is conducted and where lodging and/or meals are provided. A. Maximum per diem allowable: In State Out of State Meals (3) 7.00 10.00 Lodging 15.00 20.00 Incidentals 3.00 5.00 Total 25.00 35.00 B. Means of computing per diem: 1) In computing per diem expenses for travel continuing over a 24-hour period, the calendar day (midnight to midnight) will be the unit. 2) For travel of less than 24 hours and/or a nights lodging is not required, the per diem em) rate should be adjusted downward to only re- flect costs for meals and other incidentals. V. APPROVED EXPENDITURES A. Transportation: 1) Air Travel: If possible, employees will travel in "tourist class" flight status . First class flight passage will be allowed only in instances where scheduling makes the first class flight more desireable, or when it otherwise serves the best interest of the City. Round trip tickets should be purchased if possible and if it is advantageous to do so. Unused trans- portation tickets shall be returned to the City's Finance Office in order for reimbursements to be effected. The City is exempt from payment of the Federal tax on transportation. It will be the responsibility of the traveling employee to secure this exemption 74 - elL4) from the public conveyance firms at the time the tickets are purchased. 2) City Vehicle: When automobile is the chosen mode of transportation, city-owned vehicles are to be used if available. If feasible and convenient to do so, employees should pool transportation facilities, particu- larly on short trips involving several employees. City credit cards are available for gas and oil expenses . These cards can be obtained in the Assistant City Manager's office. 3) Personal Vehicles: City employees may use pri- vate automobiles only incases where a city- owned vehicle is not available. In such cases, the employee will be given a flat rate of 10 cents per mile. Mileage will be computed from the latest official map published by the Texas Highway Department for trips made inside the State. Mileage driven outside of the State will be computed from the latest official maps pub- lishedlished by the American Automobile Association. When personal automobiles are used, total mileage to be considered for reimbursement shall in no case exceed the cost of tourist class air passage if such service is available. The payment 'of such mileage will• be based on the most direct route from the point of departure to the point of destination. 4) Official long distance calls: Charges for long distance telephone calls on official business will be allowed provided that the call is charged to the appropriate department's phone number used for long distance calls . 5) Registration fees: Conference and/or training regis- tration fees will be paid in full by the City in ad- dition to per diem allowance. 6) Car rental: If a car is rented while an employee is traveling, it must be the most practical means of transportation available. If this type of trans- portation is anticipated, city credit cards should be used. 1 75 — 7) Accompaniment by spouses: When it is deemed proper to represent the City and to meet the courtesies of protocol, spouses may accompany the employee on official city business. The spouses ' registration fee and the additional hotel or motel cost of a double occupancy room versus the cost of a single occupancy room will be allowed. Meals and/or trans- portation costs will not be allowed unless authorized by the City Manager. The latter rule may be waived for members of the Board of Aldermen. VI. GENERAL POLICIES A. Unanticipated or substitution of travel expenses: 1) Unanticipated travel, conference and/or training expenses may be approved by the City Manager after such approval is granted by the departmental director. Approval will only be made if surplus funds are avail- able from within the department's budget and/or when emN such travel is deemed to be in the best interest of the City. Request for approval is to be made in the form of a memorandum to the City Manager. A copy of this memorandum noting the City Manager's approval will be attached to Form Nos. T. 1. and/or T.2. as the situation warrants and forwarded to Finance. 2) Substitution of approved travel, conference and/or training expenses may be requested subject to the de- partment head's and/or departmental director's approval if the substitution is not in excess of the original appropriation for which subject substitution is made. A request for substitution should be made in the form of a memorandum to the Director of Finance. If the substitution is in excess of the appropriated funds allowed for the original trip, the City Manager's approval is necessary. The Director of Finance will forward the request memorandum to the Manager for his approval or disapproval. This memorandum will be attached to Form Nos. T. 1. and/or T.2. by the Finance Department. B. Estimating travel allowance for budget purposes: Pursuant to budget formulation instructions - budget work from AB13 en- titled "Request for Travel - Boards and Local Meetings" - Budget 76 - t:I t Ali j requests for basis travel allowancethe of allowance a nce shouldment. ance as set forth inethis policy tIt.-J C. Policy state-Procedure•n Advance (T.l.shall be All forms submitted in duplicate Itemized (T.2.) expenses..'' the shall be routed to the Finance formsr.;u employee for author' Department,director and to his (her) de authorizationto his Directordepartment head, and execution fromtFinance ' to the departmental the following authorization and in the foregoing order. City 1) Pro g instances; nd apPr°val is required inProposedexpensesarenotbudge 01 1 2) Proposed expenses exceed budget ted, funds for travel.3) Itemized expensespenses or advanceperdiemallowance, requested exceeds the4) Mileage is requested for of personal car.4 4 f 77 _