Required Accounting for Travel Expenses

At the completion of the trip, employees will make an accounting of trip expenses whether they are through the procurement card process or they are to be reimbursed. This accounting of trip expenses must be made within 30 days of the completion of the trip. All charges to the procurement card will be supported by receipts as usual. Employees may not request reimbursement for travel expenses paid for with a procurement card.

The IRS requires us to maintain hotel receipts to properly document an employee in overnight travel status and to differentiate payment from compensation; we also need to properly document to the citizens the public purpose of the travel cost. Receipts are required for all travel costs except the $39.00 per diem allowance. These receipts will be sent to Finance after the employee has properly accounted for the trip. The Finance department reserves the right to withhold per diem allowance reimbursement until after the procurement card charges have been reviewed.

Although the Finance Director is statutorily charged with stewardship of taxpayer dollars, the fiscal integrity and credibility of our organization is the responsibility of all County employees and supervisors. Supervisor/Departmental approval on travel reimbursement requests is, among other things, an acknowledgement that the travel expenditures were incurred for a public purpose.  The Finance Department will also review travel for reasonableness and public purpose.