Policy No. 6213P

Travel Request

Travel requests must be approved by the staff member's immediate supervisor.Overnight Out-of-district/state travel must also be approved by the superintendent.

The travel request must show meals, lodging, transportation, registration and any other estimated expenses for which reimbursement shall be requested upon completion of travel and the budgetcategory to which reimbursement is to be charged.

Reimbursement Of Claims

Certified claims must be submitted to the district business office on the 10th of the month.

Claims for reimbursement for event expenses, including mileage, will only be honored during the fiscal year that the event took place. All claims must be submitted by September 7thof the following fiscal year. All expenses must be claimed within 60 days of the event.

A mileage report is to be submitted each month for reimbursement of mileage in a personal vehicle inside the district. The report must show each point of departure and destination.

A statement of expenses is to be submitted for each trip for which reimbursement is being requested.

Reimbursable Expenses

Lodging Room Only (outside 50 mile radius)	Reasonable rates	Itemized original receipt required
Meals	Up to Per diem	Detailed itemized receipt required for non overnight
Airline, Train, Bus Fare	Tourist rate	Cancelled ticket serves as receipt or boarding pass
Taxi, Parking, Toll	Reasonable rates	Receipt preferred
Mileage — personal car	Inside the district: Reimbursement allowed when approved in by the staff member's supervisor. Outside the District: Reimbursement allowed only in connection with an approved travel request. Reimbursement shall be at the Federal reimbursement rate per mile.

Meals

• Out of District/Overnight
• Staff Meals:
• Personnel authorized for out-of-district, overnight travel will claim food cost reimbursement through per diem. The following schedule and procedures are applicable:
• Travel meal per diem for Washington state counties other than those listed below will be at a rate of $39.00 per day prorated for a partial day at the rate of $10.00 for breakfast, $12.00 for lunch, and $17.00 for dinner; King County at the rate of $16.00, $19.00 and $29.00 for a total of $64.00; the city of Spokane at the rate of $12.00, $15.00 and $22.00 for a total of $49.00. Out of state travel per diem will be at the city rate established by the U.S. General Services Administration.
• Meals included in conference registration charges will be deducted from meal per diem on the above schedule. (Continental Breakfast is not considered a meal)
• Breakfast reimbursement is allowed when departure from Blaine is necessary before 6:30 a.m.
• Dinner reimbursement is allowed if return to Blaine is necessary after 6:30 p.m.
• All Other Meal Reimbursement:
• In the case of meal reimbursement for one-day travel events, meals will be reimbursed at per diem rates after completion of travel and such meals will be subject to income taxation in accordance with IRS regulations. Receipts are required.
• In addition, if an officer or employee is filing a claim on behalf of others regardless of travel status, he or she must prepare a detailed account that includes:
• Names of the others who partook of meals.
• Whether they were district employees and, if not, who they were and what connections they had with district business. This should not be construed to permit promotional hosting.
• Who provided the meals with dates and times.
• A detailed breakdown of amounts
• Some statement sufficiently explicit to show what municipal business was being carried out when the expenses were incurred.

Hotel and Motel Expenses: Individual receipts are required from each staff member who obtains reimbursement from the district. When two or more people share a room, the room shall be registered to all of the occupants. Each person shall obtain and pay a bill for the share of the room chargewhen possible.  If the hotel or motel will not provide that service, the person paying the bill and requesting reimbursement shall note on the receipt all other staff members who shared the room.  Hotel or motel charges are not to be billed directly to the district unless a purchase order is used.

Airline Tickets: Airline tickets (coach rate) may be charged to the district through a local travel agency for any approved travel.

Nonreimbursable Expenses

The following expenses are not reimbursable:

• Alcoholic beverages, meals or snacks other than regular meals.

Personal telephone calls, postage, and memberships.

Mileage to and from home.

Mileage for school levy promotions and other nonofficial school functions.

Entertainment.

Expenses for travel extending beyond the time required for the meeting or business, unless it is in the district’s financial interest to extend the travel over a Saturday night or such other rate advantages.

Expenses incurred by non-employees traveling with the staff member, including room surcharges.

Date: December 20, 2007

Blaine School District