General

The policy of Wake County government is to reimburse employees for all reasonable expenses incurred as a result of travel for authorized county business. All travel is contingent upon the availability of budgeted funds in each department.

Wake County is providing the use of procurement cards to employees approved by their Department Head to pay for all authorized and allowable travel expenses except meals. This will reduce the need for employees in overnight travel status to use their own funds. Employees will be provided a $39.00 per diem allowance for meals and incidentals for both in-state and out-of-state overnight travel.

The per diem allowance of $39.00 covers meals and incidental expenses. Incidental expenses are defined in the federal travel regulations as "fees and tips given to porters, baggage carriers, bellhops, hotel maids, stewards or stewardesses and others on ships, and hotel servants in foreign countries; transportation between places of lodging or business and places where meals are taken, if suitable meals can be obtained at the temporary duty site; and the mailing costs associated with filing travel vouchers and payment of employer sponsored charge card billings". Employees should file for reimbursement when a trip is completed. The use of procurement cards has eliminated the need for travel advances, thus they are no longer available to employees unless approved by the Finance Director.

The policy of Wake County government is to reimburse employees for all reasonable expenses incurred as a result of travel for authorized County business. All travel is contingent upon the availability of budgeted funds in each department. All out of state overnight travel must be approved in advance by the Department Head using the Pre-Approval Form for Overnight Travel. If more than three employees from the same department are to go on the same out of state overnight trip, the County Manager or authorized designee must approve it in writing.

By the nature of their role within the organization, certain positions conduct business in the evenings and at meals during the day. In order to accommodate this work profile, employees will be reimbursed for business meals at which County business was conducted. Reimbursement will be for the amount of the meal as documented by a receipt. All meals are expected to be reasonable and the cost of alcohol will not be reimbursed. Positions authorized to utilize this policy are Board of Commissioners, County Manager, Deputy County Manager, the County Attorney, the Clerk to the Board and the Intergovernmental Relations Manager.

On rare occasions special events occur requiring that actual expenses be reimbursed for certain employees. Prior verbal approval is required from the County Manager and written approval from the County Manager and the Finance Director of the reimbursement request is required .