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HomeMy WebLinkAboutReso 231-05 Travel Expense Reimb RESOLUTION NO. 231 - 05 A RESOLUTION OF mE CITY COUNCIL OF mE CITY OF DUBLIN '" '" '" '" '" '" '" '" '" '" '" '" '" '" * '" '" ESTABLISHING A POLICY REGARDING OFFICIAL TRAVEL AND omER BUSINESS AND REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES ASSOCIATED THEREWITH WHEREAS, members of the City's legislative bodies and City employees perform official duties that require travel; and WHEREAS, the official duties that involve travel include training, conferences, meetings with legislators and regulators, and meetings with staff and officials of surrounding communities regarding matters of mutual importance; and WHEREAS, the performance of such official duties facilitates the efficient and satisfactory completion of City business and promotes a good relationship between the City and surrounding communities, the state government, and the federal government; and WHEREAS, members oflegislative bodies and City employees incur expenses related to the performance of official duties, which may take place both within and outside of the City of Dublin; and WHEREAS, the California Government Code permits the City to reimburse employees and members of the City Council for expenses incurred in the performance of official duties; and WHEREAS, the City Council has adopted an ordinance authorizing reimbursement for the members of the Planning Commission, Parks & Community Services Commission, Heritage & Cultural Arts Commission, Senior Advisory Committee, and Youth Advisory Committee for expenses incurred in the performance of official duties; and WHEREAS, Assembly Bill 1234 (2005) requires the City Council to, prior to providing reimbursement to members of City legislative bodes, adopt a policy regarding the reimbursement for expenses incurred by members of legislative bodies in the performance of official duties; and WHEREAS, this Resolution is intended (a) to satisfy the pertinent requirements of AB 1234 relating to reimbursement of expenses of members of legislative bodies; (b) to set forth a reimbursement policy applicable to employees; and (c) to establish other requirements related to travel expenses paid by the City. NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Dublin does RESOLVE as follows: I. Purpose. The purpose of this policy is to ensure that the reimbursement of members of legislative bodies and City employees for expenses incurred in the performance of official duties complies with the California Government Code, including the recently enacted Assembly Bill 1234, which adds Sections 53232.2 et seq. to the Government Code, to establish a reimbursement policy applicable to City employees, and to establish other requirements related to travel expenses paid by the City. 2. Policy. Members of a legislative body and City employees may be reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of official duties only as provided in this Policy. Reso No. 231-05, Adopted 12/20/05 Page 1 of5 3. Definitions. The following definition shall apply to this policy: "Legislative body" means the City Council, Planning Commission, Parks & Community Services Commission, Heritage & Cultural Arts Commission, Senior Advisory Committee, and Youth Advisory Committee. 4. Types of Occurrences that Qualify for Reimbursement. Members of a legislative body and City employees may be reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of official duties, including (a) attending conferences, (b) attending organized educational activities, (c) meeting with local, state, and federal legislators and officials regarding official city business, (d) meeting with staff and officials of surrounding communities regarding matters of mutual concern, (e) attending City events, (f) participating in regional, state, and national organizations whose activities affect the City's interests, and (g) implementing a City-approved strategy for attracting and retaining businesses to the City, which will typically involve at least one staff member. 5. Government Rates. Airlines, hotels, and rental car companies often make special rates available to state, federal, and local governments. These rates are presumed to be the most economical and reasonable rates for the purposes of this Policy. Those booking travel should consult available resources, such as www.catravelsmart.com. to determine the applicable government rates. 6. Transportation. a. Cost Comparison to Determine Mode of Transportation. When contemplating travel arrangements, members of a legislative body and City employees should choose the least expensive mode of travel. For example, in some cases, it may be less expensive for the City to reimburse members of a legislative body or an employee for mileage associated with vehicle transportation than to pay for air travel. Prior to making travel arrangements, the employee or member of the legislative body shall compare the cost of traveling by the various modes of travel available and determine the most cost effective mode given the official or employee's scheduling needs. Members oflegislative bodies and City employees shall also consider cost- saving strategies such as car-pooling in the cost comparison. b. Air Travel. When possible, members of a legislative body and City employees should arrange for air travel to be paid for by the City, pursuant to Administrative Policy 09-2005 relating to credit card usage. The designated individual in each Department responsible for making travel arrangements, pursuant to Administrative Policy 09-2005, shall book the most economical and reasonable mode and class of transportation available that is consistent with the official or employee's scheduling needs. If advance arrangements cannot be made due to lack of advance warning or other extenuating circumstances as approved by the City Manager or his or her designee before the expenses are incurred, members of a legislative body and City employees may be reimbursed for the expense of a roundtrip airplane ticket, so long as the claimant obtained three quotations for airfare, including government and group rates when available, and the amount of reimbursement sought does not exceed the least expensive airfare that is consistent with the official or employee's scheduling needs. c. Personal Vehicle Travel. Members of a legislative body and City employees may be reimbursed for expenses incurred in traveling by personal vehicle on official business at the Internal Revenue Service Mileage Rate. Members of a legislative body and City employees requesting such reimbursement shall file a Mileage Reimbursement Request form, which shall satisfy the Documentation Requirements provided in Section 14 of this Reimbursement Policy. Reso No. 231-05, Adopted 12/20/05 Page 2 of 5 d. Car Rental Reimbursement. Prior to requesting a rental car, officials and employees traveling on official business shall consider whether a rental car is the least expensive means of transportation at the destination. When possible, members of a legislative body and City employees should arrange for car rentals to be paid for in advance by the City, pursuant to Administrative Policy 09-2005 relating to credit card usage. The designated individual in each Department responsible for travel arrangements, pursuant to Administrative Policy 09-2005, shall book the most economical and reasonable rental rate that is available. If advance arrangements cannot be made due to lack of advance warning or other extenuating circumstances as approved by the City Manager or his or her designee before the expenses are incurred, members of a legislative body and City employees may be reimbursed for the expense of car rental, so long as the claimant obtained three quotations for car rental rates, including government and group rates when available, and the amount of reimbursement sought does not exceed the least expensive car rental rate that is available. 7. Meals. a. Meals in Conjunction with Travel. Members of a legislative body and City employees may be reimbursed for expenses incurred for meals consumed in conjunction with travel on official business. For travel within California, a member of a legislative body or City employee may be reimbursed for meals in amounts that do not exceed the following, which include tax and gratuity: Breakfast: $ 12 Lunch: $ 18 Dinner: $ 31 Incidentals U Total $ 64 For travel outside of California, a member of a legislative body or City employee may be reimbursed for meals in amounts that do not exceed the above amounts or the per-meal amounts for the particular locale as published by the U.S. General Services Administration in the document entitled "Per Diem Rates," available at www.gsa.gov, whichever is higher. The meal reimbursement amounts set forth above shall be adjusted annually on October 1 to reflect any changes to the per-diem rates published by the U.S. General Services Administration. Notwithstanding the per-meal amounts set forth above and those published by the U.S. General Services Administration, the member or employee may be reimbursed for meals in an amount that does not exceed the aggregate amount of meal allowances in a particular day for which the member or employee is eligible. If a meal is provided by a conference or organized educational activity, or otherwise included in the payment of registration fees, members of legislative bodies and City employees may not be reimbursed for meals purchased in lieu of, or in addition to, the provided meal. b. Reimbursementfor Other Meals. Where authorized by Section 4 of this Policy, members ofa legislative body and City employees may be reimbursed for their meals associated with the performance of official duties at rates not to exceed the amounts set forth in Section 7(a) of this Policy. Meals for spouses, family members, and other third parties shall not be reimbursed. Reso No. 231-05, Adopted 12/20/05 Page 3 of5 8. Lodging. a. The City will pay for or reimburse for lodging expenses when travel on official city business reasonably requires an overnight stay. b. When possible, members of a legislative body and City employees should arrange for lodging expenses to be paid by the City, pursuant to Administrative Policy 09-2005 relating to credit card usage. The designated individual in each Department responsible for making travel arrangements, pursuant to Administrative Policy 09-2005, shall book lodging at the most economical and reasonable rates for lodging that is in a location that is reasonable and convenient in relation to the official or employee's scheduling and official business needs. For lodging in connection with a conference or organized educational activity, such lodging costs shall generally not exceed the maximum group rate published by the conference or activity sponsor, provided that lodging at the group rate is available to the member of a legislative body or City employee at the time ofbooking. c. If such advance arrangements cannot be made due to lack of advance warning or other extenuating circumstances as approved by the City Manager or his or her designee before the expenses are incurred, a member of the legislative body or City employee may be reimbursed for lodging expenses, so long as the amount of the reimbursement does not exceed the government or group rates offered by a provider of lodging in a location that is reasonable and convenient in relation to the official or employee's official business needs or the maximum group rate published by the event or activity sponsor, whichever is higher. 9. Incidental Expense Reimbursement. Members of a legislative body and City employees may be reimbursed for actual and necessary incidental expenses incurred in connection with a conference, organized educational activity, or other performance of official duties. Incidental expenses include reasonable gratuities for hotel and airline employees, parking fees, cab fares, public transportation costs, tolls, telephone calls relating to the performance of official duties, telephone calls of a personal nature, and other such incidental expenses. Reimbursement for expenses incurred in placing telephone calls of a personal nature shall be limited to $10 per day for travel within California, and $20 per day for travel outside of California. 10. Conference Registration Fee Reimbursement. When possible, members ofa legislative body and City employees should arrange for conference and organized educational activity registration fees to be paid in advance of the conference by the City, pursuant to Administrative Policy 09-2005 relating to credit card usage. If such advance arrangements cannot be made due to lack of advance warning or other extenuating circumstances, members of a legislative body and City employees may be reimbursed for the expense of a conference or organized educational activity registration fee. 11. Expenses to Accommodate Disabilities. This policy shall not be construed to limit the City's ability to reimburse members ofa legislative body and City employees for necessary expenses in excess of that which is otherwise permitted under this policy where such additional expenses are necessary to accommodate for a disability. 12. Other Expenses. All other actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of official duties that are not described in this Reimbursement Policy shall not be reimbursed unless approved before the expense is incurred by the City Council. 13. Prohibited Expense Reimbursements. Members of a legislative body and City employees shall not be reimbursed for expenses such as alcoholic beverages, spouse or family meals, entertainment expenses such as movie rental fees, theater tickets or sporting event fees, and fines for parking citations. Reso No. 231-05, Adopted 12/20/05 Page 4 of 5 14. Documentation Requirements. The City Manager shall provide members of a legislative body and City employees with expense report forms to be filed by the member or employee for reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses incurred in performance of official duties. The expense report form shall be used to document that the expenses for which reimbursement are sought are proper under this Policy. Members ofa legislative body and City employees must file expense report forms within 14 calendar days of incurring the expense. The expense report forms shall be accompanied by itemized receipts documenting each expense, except that detail regarding the nature of the expense provided in the expense report shall suffice for incidental expenses for which receipts are not customarily given. All documents related to reimbursable expenditures shall be considered public records subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act. 15. Brief Report to Legislative Body. Members of the legislative bodies shall provide brief reports on meetings attended at the expense of the local agency at the next regular meeting of the legislative body immediately following the event for which reimbursement is sought. If more than one member of a legislative body attends the event, a report from one of the members that mentions the other's presence is sufficient. 16. Effect of Violation. A violation of this Reimbursement Policy may result in the following penalties, including, but not limited to: 1) loss of reimbursement privileges; 2) restitution to the City; 3) civil penalties for the misuse of public resources pursuant to Section 424 of the California Penal Code; and 4) prosecution for misuse of public resources pursuant to Section 424 of the California Penal Code. 17. Revisions to Credit Card Policy. The City Manager shall revise Administrative Policy 09-2005 (Credit Card Usage) to conform to the limits on expenditures for transportation, lodging, meals, and other expenses set forth in this policy. 18. Effective Date. This Resolution shall take effect immediately. 19. Severability Clause. The provisions of this Resolution are severable and if any provision, clause, sentence, word or part thereof is held illegal, invalid, unconstitutional, or inapplicable to any person or circumstances, such illegality, invalidity, unconstitutionality, or inapplicability shall not affect or impair any of the remaining provisions, clauses, sentences, sections, words or parts thereof of the ordinance or their applicability to other persons or circumstances. PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED this 20th day of December 2005, by the following vote: AYES: Councilmembers Hildenbrand, McCormick and Zika, and Mayor Pro Tem Oravetz NOES: None ABSENT: Mayor Lockhart ABSTAIN: None ~~ J . .' J Mayor Pro Tem Alt.ST 1 lk\ ~ City Clerk - Reso No. 231-05, Adopted 12/20/05 Page 5 of5