Title
Chief Administrative Office recommending the Board approve revisions to Board of Supervisors Policy D-1 - Travel.
FUNDING: N/A
Body
DEPARTMENT RECOMMENDATION
Approve revisions to Board of Supervisors Policy D - 1.
DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
Board of Supervisors Policy D-1 - Travel was originally adopted on December 22, 1987, and was last revised on October 20, 2009. The purpose of the policy is to set forth guidelines for payment and reimbursement of expenses for actual and necessary costs incurred by county employees, volunteers, and contractors when traveling on official county business. The policy is in need of revision for several reasons:
1. Meal and lodging cost limits have not kept pace with inflation.
2. The policy does not address several issues that arise repeatedly, such as gratuities, purchase of additional insurance when renting vehicles, special circumstances related to search and rescue missions and extraditions, airline baggage and change fees, and several others.
3. The policy requires CAO approval for all out-of-county overnight travel, regardless of the cost.
The current policy includes fixed monetary limits for meals and lodging that apply, regardless of the travel destination. This doesn't recognize inflation or the fact that some travel destinations are much more costly than others. The revised policy refers to the federal General Services Administration (GSA) rate for meal and lodging reimbursement. This rate varies by region of the country and is adjusted annually to account for inflation.
In working with departments and the Auditor-Controller's Office, we have identified several issues that the existing policy either does not address, or provides unclear or outdated direction. The revised policy has been reviewed by departments and the Auditor-Controller's staff that processes travel payments, and should address the majority of those issues.
The current policy requires CAO approval for all out-of-county overnight trave...
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