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HomeMy WebLinkAbout24-235 RESOLUTION NO. 2024-235 A RESOLUTION OF THE ST. LUCIE COUNTY, FLORIDA, BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ADOPTING A TRAVEL VEHICLE ALLOWANCE POLICY; AND PROVIDING FOR REPEAL AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS,the Board of County Commissioners of St. Lucie County, Florida, ("Board")has made the following determinations: 1. Section 112.061, Fla. Stat., establishes standard travel reimbursement rates for public officers, employees and others authorized persons. 2. Subsection 112.061(14) authorizes a county to establish rates that vary from the per diem, subsistence, and mileage rates set forth in Section 112.061 by resolution. 3. The Board recognizes that Section 112.061 is infrequently revised and believes it is in the best interests of the County to vary from this section to adequately compensate its employees for travel required for official county business. 4. The Board desires to establish standard travel reimbursement rates,procedures, and limitations, with certain justifiable exceptions and exemptions, applicable to County Commissioners, County employees, and other authorized persons. NOW,THEREFORE,BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of County Commissioners of St. Lucie County, FL, as follows: 1. The foregoing recitals are true and correct and hereby adopted and made part hereof by this reference. 2. The Board hereby adopts the St. Lucie County Travel and Vehicle Allowance Policy as set forth in Exhibit A attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference. 3. The St. Lucie County Travel Policy adopted by the County Administrator on September 30, 2019, and all other policies in conflict are hereby repealed. 4. This Resolution shall become effective immediately upon its adoption. After motion and second, the vote on Resolution 2024-235 was as follows: Chair Cathy Townsend AYE Vice-Chairman Chris Dzadovsky AYE Commissioner Larry Leet AYE Commissioner Linda Bartz AYE Commissioner Jamie Fowler AYE PASSED AND DULY ADOPTED this 6th day of November, 2024. Attest: Board of County Commissioners St. Lucie County, Florida By: Chair Approved as o ctness GOMM/SSO 1-0 v ,VI ` y . County Atto ey * * 40/6'couwtr,F`�t EXHIBIT A ST.LUCIE COUNTY TRAVEL AND VEHICLE ALLOWANCE POLICY I. PURPOSE To establish standard travel reimbursement rates, procedures, and limitations, with certain justifiable exceptions and exemptions, applicable to St. Lucie County Board of County Commissioners, County employees, and authorized persons as defined herein. II. TRAVEL POLICY STATEMENT The County will reimburse travel expenses that are reasonably and necessarily incurred in the performance of official county business and properly approved and documented per the guidelines provided in this policy and the procedures established by the County Administrator as authorized herein. III. VEHICLE ALLOWANCE POLICY STATEMENT The County offers a car allowance in the amount of$400 per month. This is a taxable benefit and will appear on one pay period during each month.The following positions are eligible for this allowance: Commissioners, County Attorney, County Administrator, Department Heads and any employee authorized by the County Administrator or designee. Department Heads and eligible employees require County Administrator or designee approval prior to receiving a vehicle allowance. The County Attorney and County Administrator require Board approval prior to receiving a vehicle allowance. IV. DEFINITIONS For purposes of this policy, the following terms have the meanings set forth below: Authorized person means a person other than a Commissioner or County employee as defined herein who is authorized by the County to incur travel expenses in the performance of official duties. Class A travel means continuous travel of 24 hours or more away from the traveler's worksite. Class B travel means continuous travel of less than 24 hours which involves overnight absence from the traveler's worksite. Class C travel means travel for short or day trips where the traveler is not away from his or her worksite overnight. 1 Commissioner means a member of the St. Lucie County Board of County Commissioners. Employee means an individual who is filling a regular or full-time authorized County position. Local means within St. Lucie, Okeechobee, Martin, and Indian River Counties. P-Card means the County procurement credit card. Worksite means the address where an employee normally reports to work. For remote employees, Commissioners, and other authorized persons the worksite is 2300 Virginia Avenue, Fort Pierce, FL 34982. Vicinity mileage means actual mileage incurred within the city, town or county of the traveler's worksite or destination, or other necessary mileage incurred which cannot be calculated using the Florida Department of Transportation map of official intercity highway mileage. V. GENERAL TRAVEL POLICIES l. In all cases, first consideration will be given to the public benefit to be derived from the expenditure of public funds for travel expenses. Expenditures must have a direct correlation to the traveler's position/functional area. 2. Travel outside the state of Florida must be justified in writing to the department head and approved by the County Administrator or designee prior to any obligations being made or any expenses being incurred. 3. Budgets for training and education will be justified and approved during the annual budget process. Travel and training requests should be within the approved budget for the training/travel line item although it is understood there may exceptions. 4. Reimbursement of expenses will conform to this policy and the procedures established by the County Administrator as authorized herein. 5. Department heads must approve all travel requests for their respective employees prior to incurring any costs.The department head shall ensure proposed travel is in the best interest of the County and the employee. 6. As practical, all travel must be by a standard/usually traveled route. If a person travels by an indirect route for personal convenience, any extra costs will be at the traveler's expense; and reimbursement for expenses shall be based only on such charges as would have been incurred by a usually traveled route. 7. The most economical and efficient mode of transportation shall be used. Both travel costs and time will be considered. 2 8. Reimbursement shall be provided for County employees, Commissioners, and authorized persons as provided in this policy and in accordance with the procedures established by the County Administrator as authorized herein. The County shall not be responsible for the expenses of spouses, family, or guests. 9. Employees may be authorized to attend training which improves job skills needed to perform their job responsibilities.Attendance at local training is encouraged as an economical means to acquire information and education. Opportunities for training within the state of Florida which may include educational seminars, certifications, and conferences should be considered, prior to out of state options. As practicable, training of a general nature providing improved skills for a group of employees will be offered "in-house" or virtual opportunities will be considered. 10. Commissioners,administration,department heads,division heads and other County employees, as approved by the County Administrator or designee may attend national or state conferences, to enhance job performance or support national or state affiliation bringing recognition and distinction to the County. VI. REGISTRATION FEES The County will pay for registration fees with written approval of the director, and these should be paid for on a P-Card. VII. MEALS 1. No per diem is available for local travel. 2. For all other travel, the following meals will be reimbursed: a. Breakfast: when travel begins before 6:00 a.m. and extends beyond 8:00 a.m. b. Lunch: when travel begins before 12:00 p.m. and extends beyond 2:00 p.m. c. Dinner: when-travel begins before 6:00 p.m. and extends beyond 8:00 p.m. 3. Meals shall be reimbursed utilizing the per diem meal rates published by the U.S. General Services Administration (https://www.gsa.gov/travel/plan-book/per-diem-rates). Travelers will be reimbursed the Meals & Incidentals Daily Total for all dates applicable to the travel. The rate used should correlate to the fiscal year at the time of travel and the travel destination. The standard rate should be used for all locations that are not specifically listed. 4. Receipts are not required to obtain a meal per-diem. 5. The per-diem allowance shall be reduced for any meals provided by hotels (other than a continental breakfast)or included in the conference, seminar or meeting registration. If 3 provided or included and the traveler elects to eat elsewhere, the meal will be at the traveler's expense. VIII. LODGING 1. Actual cost of lodging at the single occupancy rate or full cost for lodging at the designated seminar or conference rate is reimbursable. 2. Expenses for lodging must be reasonable. 3. When the County pays for in-state lodging, the traveler must provide the lodging establishment with the County's Florida State Sales Tax Exemption Certificate.Any sales taxes paid as a result of the traveler's failure to present the County's exemption certificate shall be considered a personal expense of the traveler and will not be reimbursed by the County. IX. COMBINED LODGING AND MEAL PER DIEM For Class A and B travel, the traveler may request a combined lodging and meal per diem in the amount set forth in section 112.061, Fl. Stat., in lieu of meal and hotel accommodation reimbursement, if preapproved by the department head. X. PRIVATELY OWNED VEHICLES; MILEAGE 1. Commuter miles (to/from worksite) are not reimbursable. 2. County employees are encouraged to use County vehicles for travel when available. Personal vehicles may be used for County travel with approval prior to travel. Non-employees are prohibited from driving any County vehicle. 3. Mileage for personal vehicles will be reimbursed at the IRS per mile rate in effect at the date(s) of travel when travelers use their personal vehicles. 4. Mileage reimbursement is computed on the distance from the traveler's home or worksite to the final travel destination, whichever is less. 5. All mileage shall be shown from point of origin to point of destination and, when possible, shall be computed on the basis of the current Florida Department of Transportation map of official intercity highway mileage for in-state travel.Alternative methods of computing mileage, such as the use of a recognized mapping application(MapQuest, Google Maps) should be utilized to calculate out-of-state and vicinity mileage.Vicinity mileage necessary for the conduct of official business is allowable. Mileage reimbursement shall not exceed the actual miles driven. 6. No more than 1 payment per private vehicle is authorized. No reimbursement of expenses shall be allowed when those costs are incurred and accounted for by another person. For example, two persons traveling in one vehicle cannot both claim a mileage reimbursement. 4 7. County employees or Commissioners receiving the approved monthly vehicle allowance who use their personal vehicles will receive mileage reimbursement only for travel outside of the local area. County employees or Commissioners receiving the approved monthly vehicle allowance are not permitted to use County vehicles for local travel and are not entitled to reimbursement for local mileage. XI. RENTAL CARS The County does not contract specifically with any one vendor for car rentals.A car rental reservation must be included in the travel authorization and made in advance when the airport, hotel or seminar does not provide regular shuttle service or if the hotel is isolated from any amenities (restaurants, taxis) and taxi service/rideshare is not the more cost-effective option. The optional auto insurance on rental vehicles is required to be purchased in the rental agreement and is fully reimbursable by the County. Non-employees are prohibited from driving any vehicle rented/expensed in the County's name. XII. AIRFARE 1. With prior approval by the County Administrator or designee, flights may be used for travel to better utilize value of work and travel time that would be lost due to extended road trips in excess of 4 hours each way. 2. Commercial air travel shall be by the most economical class, which is normally coach or economy. When purchasing coach/economy-class tickets, seat location upgrades are permitted at the expense of the traveler. 3. First-class or business class tickets are permitted only with a justification memo approved by the County Administrator certifying that coach or economy was not available at the flight time needed. If a traveler chooses to book a first-class or business class ticket for their personal convenience,the traveler is responsible for the cost above what the coach price would be and must submit documentation showing the coach fare and first-class fare at the time of booking. 4. Airline tickets should be purchased using a P-card. Personal credit cards should not be used to purchase airline tickets. 5. No booking site or travel agent fees are permitted for reimbursement. 6. Flight insurance may be purchased by the traveler at the traveler's expense and will not be eligible for reimbursement by the County. 7. Airline travelers are permitted to pay checked baggage fees for one bag(round trip) for each 1-7 days of travel. 8. Fees for baggage porters not to exceed$1 per bag,and not to exceed$5 per incident, are permitted when this is the only means to care for baggage. 5 XIII. INCIDENTALS The following expenses incurred while conducting official County business are eligible for reimbursement with a receipt: 1. Taxi, rideshare(Uber/Lyft), transit,metro,rail fare 2. Tipping(permitted up to 20%) 3. Parking fees 4. Tolls (bridge, interstate, tunnel, etc.) 5. Gas (for a County car only) 6. Wi-fi/internet fee when not otherwise available 7. Mandatory valet parking charges (only when self-parking is not available) Other incidental costs not specifically covered above need to be documented for review for reimbursement and should be attached to the final travel documentation. XIV. COUNTY BUSINESS TRAVEL COMBINED WITH PERSONAL TRAVEL 1. No reimbursement is given for personal expenses incurred while on travel (i.e., personal phone calls/faxes, personal purchases, adding on personal travel days to business travel days, travel for anyone other than the authorized traveler, etc.). 2. A traveler may opt to add personal travel days on the beginning or end of the business trip with written approval of the traveler's direct supervisor and department head. The County will only pay for costs associated with the official County business travel. XV. NON-REIMBURSABLE EXPENSES Expenses which do not serve a direct public purpose to the County will not be reimbursed. Such expenses include,but are not limited to the following: 1. Taxes 2. Laundry and dry cleaning 3. Personal telephone calls 4. Gratuities in excess of 20% 5. Personal entertainment expenses or alcoholic beverages (*In certain business-related situations entertainment or alcoholic beverages are permitted in the course of conducting County business. The situation shall be approved and documented as part of the travel reimbursement documentation.) 6. Movie or cable television fees charged by hotels or airlines 7. Room service 8. Any additional expenses as a result of traveling with spouse/guest 9. Expenses for repairs/damages to personal vehicles 10. Traffic or parking tickets or fines 11. Insurance coverage for privately owned vehicles 12. Lost or stolen items 6 13. Any other non-business-related expense that does not provide a direct benefit to the County XVI. EXCEPTIONS This policy is not expected to address every issue, exception or contingency that may arise in the course of County travel.Accordingly,the basic standard that should always prevail in dealing with exceptions is the exercise of good judgment in the use and stewardship of the County's resources. If a circumstance arises that is not specifically covered in this travel policy, then the most economical and efficient course of action should be taken. Unusual circumstances may be approved by the County Administrator or designee. XVII. PROCEDURES The County Administrator is authorized to adopt procedures for approval and reimbursement of authorized travel. Approval for travel and reimbursement shall be made on the appropriate forms pursuant to the procedures established by the County Administrator. 7