SECTION C: BUSINESS AND SUPPORT SERVICES

 

BUSINESS AND SUPPORT SERVICES
TRAVEL PROCEDURES

Procedure

TRAVEL PROCEDURES

The purpose of the procedure is to ensure travel expenditures are reasonable, customary, and necessary to conduct official college business. The College provides options for employees who incur business related travel expenses in the performance of their official duties. An employee may receive a travel stipend, the use of a fleet vehicle, or be reimbursed for economical and practical travel expenses associated with line of duty (service area) or professional development (conferences) travel.

Employees traveling under contracts and grants (federal, state, local, or private) shall be reimbursed for travel expenses and allowances on the same basis as other College employees, except in those instances where the terms of the contract or grant specify travel guidelines and reimbursement rates which are more restrictive than the College reimbursement rates.

SERVICE AREA

As defined by the Texas Legislature the official service area for Navarro College includes all of: Ellis, Navarro. Freestone, Limestone, and Leon counties. Campuses are in the cities of Corsicana, Waxahachie, Mexia, and Midlothian. The service area may differ for government sponsored awards, contracts, and agreements.

Line of duty travel expenses may be paid with a monthly stipend processed through payroll, or, reimbursed through a claim processed through the purchasing department and accounts payable department.

TRAVEL STIPENDS

Travel Stipends may be issued to employees who frequently travel within the service area. The employee should make the request for an appropriate amount to the respective Vice President. A travel stipend may be issued if warranted at the discretion of the District President. Those receiving a travel stipend will not be reimbursed for travel expenses under these procedures other than those not covered by the stipend.

LINE OF DUTY AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Before an employee travels for professional development or line of duty, a purchase requisition must be completed and approved (Approval means a purchase order number has been assigned.)

Online requisitions (REQM) should be created and approved prior to any travel and will serve as the employee’s approval for the travel. Both Professional (Conference) Travel and Line of Duty Travel will utilize the requisition process. Professional Travel is per occurrence. A requisition should be completed for each trip separately. Line of Duty Travel that encompasses more than one trip will be entered as a requisition with “BPO” entered on the first line of the Printed Comments. The Purchasing Office will create a Purchase Order or Blanket Purchase Order based on the application needed.

IMPORTANT PART OF THIS PROCESS:

If there are no major deviations (10% or less) from the amounts listed on the approved

Purchase Order, the employee may submit the TRAVEL EXPENSE VOUCHER with their signature only and all necessary receipts to the Accounts Payable Office within 10 business days upon returning to work but no later than sixty (60) days after incurring the expense. The college will follow the IRS Revenue Ruling 2003-106 which states that a travel claim received later than sixty days after incurring the expenses the reimbursed amount will be added to the taxable wages section of the W-2.  Please list the Purchase Order Numbers on this form.  All original receipts/documentation/ proof should be submitted with the Travel Expense Voucher Form to Accounts Payable.

The Director of Business Services and Cashiers Office and/or Director of Payroll and Accounts Payable may refuse to process expense vouchers submitted that are incomplete, late, or are missing documentation.

The voucher with PO# and documentation must be received by Accounts Payable by noon on Wednesday to possibly be processed that week.

Deviations in excess of 10% more should be approved by supervisors by contacting the purchasing office and submitting a change order to the PO (listing the PO#, Vendor, amount of the change, and why the change occurred) to the purchasing office. Purchasing staff will adjust the purchase order and add your supervisors back to the approvals needed area of the online purchase order.

REIMBURSEMENT

Rates for reimbursement are as follows:

MILEAGE

If an employee is not already receiving a travel stipend for service area travel, or did not use a fleet vehicle, he/she may seek reimbursement of mileage for use of their personal car on College business. The rate that will be reimbursed is the federal rate which is currently $0.62 cents per mile. The mileage reimbursement rate is inclusive of all expenses associated with the employee’s use of his or her vehicle.

Calculation of mileage may be based on actual odometer readings or by utilizing MapQuest. The miles are counted from the point of departure (which could be from campus or from the employee’s home so long as it benefits the College) to the destination and then back to the point of return. 

The number of reimbursable miles may not exceed the number of miles of the most cost-effective route between two duty points. In determining the most cost-effective route, the College may consider the route that provides the shortest distance, the quickest drive time, or the safest road conditions. Reasonable mileage for incidental travel such as travel between lodging and meeting location or restaurants is allowable.

Whenever an employee travels out of state in a personal vehicle no meals or lodging will be reimbursed while in route. Mileage will be reimbursed at the price of an airline (coach) ticket or at the prescribed mileage rate, whichever is less.

Any claims for local transportation must be accumulated and submitted at least monthly with an approved purchase order number listed on the Request for Reimbursement of Mileage form and will include the date, itinerary, purpose, and mileage for each individual trip.

Travel expenses incurred between an employee's home and work location are considered to be a commuting expense and will not be reimbursed   Any approved exceptions to this will be taxable to the employee

TRANSPORTATION

Airline tickets and car rentals will be reimbursed at actual cost. Personal expenses such as extra cabin space or insurance are not reimbursable. To preserve your department’s budget, employees may benefit from making use of state resources. The State of Texas negotiates contracts with certain transportation vendors. A list of approved vendors  may be found on the State Comptrollers Website.

LODGING

For travel to conventions or professional meetings, the lodging rate reimbursed would be that of the convention hotels. For other business-related hotel stays employees may contact the State of Texas staff who negotiates these contracts with certain hotels. Click the following link http://www.window.state.tx.us/procurement/prog/stmp/ for a list of ap-proved vendors as well as contact information for State Travel Coordinators for assistance.

Governmental lodging rates are found on http://gsa.gov/portal/. These rates are updated annually and may change each governmental fiscal year beginning in October.

A tax-exempt form should be obtained from the purchasing department prior to the trip and presented to the hotel for Texas State sales tax exemption.

MEALS

An employee may be reimbursed for his/her actual meal expense up to the maximum meal reimbursement for that location. The maximum should not be claimed unless the actual expenditures equal or exceed the maximum allowable rate.

Example#1: lunch receipt is $10.25 / per diem is $11.00 (claim should be for $10.25).

Example#2: lunch receipt is $12.25 / per diem is $11.00 (claim should be for $11.00).

The time of departure and return listed on the purchase requisition will be used to calculate meal allowance. .

Reimbursement rates will be determined by the rates of the county in which the employee's final destination of travel occurs. Example: An employee leaves Navarro County and travels to Dallas County - the rate of reimbursement will be the Dallas County Rate. Documentation will be required to show the purpose of the travel and where the travel occured. Example:  A copy of the agenda for a conference, meeting, etc..

Meals and lodging rates are found on http://gsa.gov/portal/. These rates are updated annually and may change each governmental fiscal year beginning in October.

If your trip includes meals that are already paid for (such as through a registration fee for a conference) you will need to deduct those meals from your voucher.

Under no circumstance will reimbursement be made for alcoholic beverages.

It is unallowable for Federal funds to pay for gratuities.

An employee may be reimbursed for non-overnight meal expenses. The function must be located outside of the service area.   Receipts are required to claim non-overnight meal reimbursement. The maximum should not be claimed unless the actual expenditures equal or exceed the maximum allowable rate. These reimbursable amounts are income and are subject to IRS rules regarding taxable fringe benefits. These payments will be reported as wages on the employee’s W-2 tax form.

An employee may not be reimbursed for a meal expense incurred within the employee’s designated campus unless it is mandatory and connect-ed with training, a seminar, or a conference (Texas Government Code Sections 660.113, and 660.009). Therefore, the College does not reimburse meals when traveling within the service area.

Using the procurement card to cover the cost of a personal meal is prohibited.

Business meals for the purpose of recruiting and other student related activities may be purchased with a procurement card and must follow the documentation requirements for business meetings outlined in the Business and Support Services, Purchasing and Acquisitions, CE.5 Procurement Card Process. Names of College participants, their department name, and campus must be included on, or attached to, each receipt. The purpose of the meeting/activity must be business related and stated on the receipt attached to the travel voucher or credit card reconciliation statement. According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) a business meal must be documented to substantiate the bona fide business purpose of the meal/activity. Student Event meal documentation requirements are the same; names of students and chaperones should be written on receipts

When necessary, employees may be granted an exception and allowed to purchase meals on a procurement card while attending a conference which requires the employee to be gone at least three days. The employee will need to seek written pre-authorization from the appropriate Vice President before the trip in memo format and the approval will be attached to the Request for Authorized Absence form. The employee will visit the purchasing department before the trip to obtain a procurement card and receive instructions on using the card.

Most conference registration fees are paid in advance to the conference rather than being paid by the individual. However, if the fee is paid by the individual, they cannot be reimbursed until the travel is complete. The conference registration fee should be included in the travel reimbursement claim. Documentation for registration fees includes proof of payment and the conference brochure and/or registration forms that identify the applicable costs. Social/recreational activities associated with a business conference are not reimbursed. If you think a social activity is applicable and should be reimbursed, write a justification, and submit it with the claim. Membership fees are sometimes included in the conference fee but need approval from the District President.

An adjunct faculty member who commutes to an instruction site that is more than 60 miles one-way from his/her place of residence will be paid a flat rate of $250 per semester for travel in addition to their regular teaching agreement.

Full-time faculty who are teaching overloads and must commute to an instructional site that is other than their main campus assignment will be paid the standard College mileage rate. The faculty member should submit a BPO (Blanket Purchase Order) at the beginning of the semester and then a mileage reimbursement form at least once a month to be reimbursed.

Off-campus faculty who travel to the Corsicana campus are encouraged to carpool when attending events such as In-Service activities, commit-tee meetings, etc. Travel will not be paid when off-campus faculty travel to the Corsicana campus to attend convocations, graduation ceremonies, UIL contests, personal business, etc. All travel for which reimbursement is requested must have prior approval.

The Athletic Director must approve all requests for travel other than to games/competition. Out-of-state travel must be approved by the District President. An approval for coaches to travel is required twenty-four (24) hours prior to travel. The appropriate college travel authorization forms must be used.

Vouchers for reimbursement must be submitted within ten (10) days upon returning to work. Appropriate receipts must accompany vouchers, and the Director of Business Services and Cashiers Office and/or the Director of Payroll and Accounts Payable may refuse to process expense vouchers that are submitted late, incomplete, or missing receipts.

All team travel must be budgeted, and coaches will make their own travel arrangements. College buses are issued on a first-come first-serve basis. Therefore, requests for vehicles must be made in advance of the trip. If all buses have already been scheduled, budgeted Athletic funds may be used to charter private buses.

Navarro College provides College-owned and insured vehicles for use for College-related activities. The College has buses, sport utility vehicles, and other passenger vehicles available for use. Please refer to Section CI.1, Business and Support Services, Transportation Management for procedures on using fleet vehicles.

Updated: November 29, 2022