3.21 – Travel Policy

Travel expenses incurred by Agency employees will be reimbursed when the travel is approved by an administrator or their designee and related to their regular duties or assignments; when the travel will result in improved services or performance by the staff; or when the travel will serve to bring money or staff to the Agency. Within these general guidelines, the following specific policy statements and priorities apply:

  1. Travel Priorities
  2. First priority for travel will be trips which are assigned to individuals or which are a necessary part of their general work assignments and trips which provide support for student activities.

Examples of travel under this priority include driving bus routes, trips to homes or local schools by staff, meetings arranged by the Board of Regents, etc.

  1. Second priority for travel will be trips which enhance the general functioning of the Agency as a Board of Regents institution.

Examples of travel under this priority include attendance at meetings of interagency committees, professional groups or conventions. Normally travel under this priority will be by assignment or request of a supervisor, department head, or the Superintendent.

  1. Third priority for travel will be trips for the purpose of acquiring skills or information by individual staff members, resulting in improved operation of the Agency’s program or the individual's job performance. Examples of travel under this priority include attendance at professional meetings, in-service, conventions or other related activity. Normally, the individual directly involved makes the request.
  1. Conditions of Reimbursement for Travel Expense

Generally, the cost of transportation, lodging, meals and registration fees will be reimbursed when authorized on the pertinent travel request. Except in case of extenuating circumstances, over-night lodging will not be reimbursed within fifty (50) miles' driving distance of an employee’s office location.

  1. Personal Car Reimbursement

Employees are expected to use an Agency vehicle if one is available to them. Exceptions require approval of the Superintendent or designee. Transportation reimbursement for travel in a personal car when the use of a personal car is authorized by the Superintendent, or designee, shall be paid at rates established by the board of Regents. The current rate for mileage reimbursement effective September 1, 2008, is $.39 per mile when a school vehicle is not available and / or when the employee has permission to use his/her personal car. Mileage reimbursement will be made to the owner of the vehicle only. The actual mileage driven (shortest or most convenient route directly to and from business destination) must be stated in the description column of the travel expense voucher.

Iowa Educational Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired employees assigned to the Area Education Agencies (AEAs) who regularly use their personal cars to perform their duties must complete the Services Vehicle Mileage Log which will serve as their mileage expense claim form. (See Procedures for Services Vehicle Mileage Log and Mileage Reimbursement Claims in this section (3.21, page 17).

For safety, professionalism, confidentiality and potential liability, employees are not to travel with family members or friends when traveling for work purposes in a personal car or employee assigned vehicle. Any exception for an emergency need to be reported to the supervisor and special activities require prior approval of the supervisor.

  1. Meal Reimbursement (REVISED 8/12/09)

a)Itinerant faculty including TVIs and COMS whose normal work / case load is in an AEA, or more than one AEA, or who are assigned to a general geographic area, or who are home officed, will receive meal reimbursement if the related travel is outside of their assigned AEA(s) and assigned case load, or normal geographic area and the trip falls within the time frames listed below. See ‘dollar limits and time frames’. Approved travel requests are required.

b)Hourly staff whose normal work is to drive itinerant faculty, will receive meal reimbursement whenever traveling more than 50 miles from the driver’s base site to a destination during the time frames listed below. See ‘dollar limits and time frames’. No travel request is required. Itinerant mileage logs will be used to evidence the travel.

c)Faculty and staff whose normal work site is the Iowa Braille School in Vinton will receive meal reimbursement if traveling more than 50 miles to a destination, and the trip falls within the time frames listed below. See ‘dollar limits and time frames’. Approved travel requests are required.

d)School bus drivers and hourly staff working on a bus route will receive meal reimbursement whenever traveling more than 50 miles to a destination and the trip falls within the time frames listed below. See ‘dollar limits and time frames’. Travel requests are not required for standard bus routes. Any other travel requires a travel request.

e)Professional staff required to serve all areas of the state as a part of their normal work will receive meal reimbursement if the related travel is more than 50 miles from their base site to a destination and the trip falls within the time frames listed below.

Supervisors will determine when staff are eligible for meal reimbursement and will approve the meal reimbursement at the time of approving the travel request.

  1. Meal Reimbursement Rates

Meals will be reimbursed based on actual and reasonable costs. Receipts are required. Maximum meal reimbursement rates for instate travel is $44.00 per day. Maximum meal rates for out-of-state travel will be allotted per the GSA meal reimbursement rate. When an employee is approved to travel out-of-state, the business office will notify the employee of the GSA rate for the travel destination.

  1. In-state Partial Day Travel

Individual amounts for each meal apply in the case of persons in travel mode for partial days. Receipts are required. Travel time frames and meal allowance are:

a)Breakfast: $8.00, departure before 6:00 a.m. and return to primary worksite after 8:00 a.m.

b)Lunch: $12.00, departure before 11:00 a.m. and return after 1:00 p.m.

c)Dinner: $21.00, departure before 5:30 p.m. and return after 7:30 p.m.

  1. In-state Full Day Travel and/or Overnight in-state travel

When traveling in-state for a full day OR when in-state travel includes an overnight stay, the total amount of $44.00 per day will apply which includes $3.00 incidentals. In this case there is an allowance for discretion in adjusting the individual meal allowances within the day, not to exceed a total of $44.00 per day including incidentals. Receipts are required.

  1. Out of state Travel

Out of State Travel is subject to the Superintendent's approval. When an employee is traveling out of state, the Business Office will notify the employee of the GSA meal reimbursement rate. The per diem rates vary based on the nearest city rate.Receipts are required.

  1. Conditions

When the conditions for meal reimbursement are met, meals will be reimbursed with receipts required, based on actual and reasonable costs subject to the policy established by the Board of Regents. Staff must complete an expenditure claim form to receive their meal reimbursement.

No reimbursements will be made for alcoholic beverages. Cash tips are allowable up to 15% of actual meal costs provided the total cost does not exceed the meal reimbursement limit. When there is no overnight stay involved, meal reimbursements are considered taxable income.

  1. General Travel Expenses

Other authorized and necessary travel expenses, meals, lodging, and other required expenses will be paid by the individual. The reimbursement for money spent should then be submitted to the Business Office as follows:

A travel expense claim form is provided by the Business Office on which you will list all information, attach receipts, and present to the Business Office preferably on a monthly basis. The claim will initiate the writing of a voucher. Information on the claim will include such items as:

  1. Dates each expense occurred
  2. Point of travel destination
  3. Method of travel, if other than school car; receipts required for public transportation; business miles driven required for private auto. The business office will calculate the mileage allowance at the applicable rate approved by the Board of Regents.
  4. Record of actual meal expenditures. (Any expenditures exceeding allowable rates will be adjusted by the business office).
  5. Hotel or motel charges - attach receipts
  6. Miscellaneous expenses to be explained, such as parking, registration fees, etc.; attach receipts
  1. Travel Regulations

All travel related absences from an employee’s assigned site(s) during periods of regular employment, whether at the Agency’s expense or personal expense, require administrative approval. For those whose regular duties normally require travel in an Agency vehicle, the usual procedures of obtaining the reservations, keys, and credit cards from the Business Office will ordinarily constitute evidence of necessary administrative approval. For those whose regular duties do not normally require travel, requests must be approved by the involved department head or school superintendent. Refer to section 4.1 for information concerning the use of Agency vehicles and buses.

  1. Procedure for Requesting Travel

A Travel Request form must be completed and approved prior to travel for any school business, even if the employee chooses to use their personal car at their own expense. Blanket travel request forms covering a specified time period (not to exceed a fiscal year) may be completed and approved for assigned work responsibilities requiring travel specific to that employee’s regularly assigned general work area. However, a Travel Request form must be completed for all travel outside of the employee’s general work area or when overnight accommodations are requested.

  1. Procedures for Statewide Services Vehicle Mileage Log and Mileage Reimbursement Claims

A Statewide Services Vehicle Mileage Log, available on the web board in the forms file, must be completed by staff using a school provided car or staff assigned to use their personal car, on a regular basis to perform their work. The log should be submitted on a monthly basis. Claims for mileage and travel reimbursement are to be submitted in a timely manner. Claims submitted for expenses that were incurred more than six months prior to the month in which the claim is received by the Business Office will not be eligible for reimbursement.

Employees using their personal car are reimbursed at a rate of $.39 per mile for recorded mileage required for traveling between assignments. The Agency does not pay mileage for commuting to and from work. Reimbursement is calculated from the employee’s first work assignment for the day (home visit or school) or the employee’s office location, whichever is less. At the end of the day mileage is calculated up to the employee’s last work assignment for the day (home visit or school) or office location, whichever is less. For employees allowed to home office, but not required to do so, the calculation for mileage will be the office location that the individual would be assigned to had he/she not been allowed to office at home.

For employees required to office from their home, as approved by the supervisor, mileage reimbursement will be calculated based on the employee’s schedule. On days that the employee is scheduled to be at his/her office at the beginning or end of the day mileage will be calculated from or to that location. On days that the employee is assigned to be at a home visit or school first the mileage will be calculated from that location. The same would apply for the end of the day.

Revised 3/16/10