Travel Regulations

No reimbursement shall be made for meals within ten miles of an employee's official headquarters and/or residence.

Receipts for all expenditures, except taxis and meals, shall be attached to the voucher. Actual paid receipts are required. Canceled checks will not be accepted as a paid receipt.

Paid motel and hotel receipts for lodging must be attached to the travel voucher when submitted for reimbursement. Actual hotel/motel costs will be reimbursed for a single room rate or one-half the cost of a double room rate if shared with another State employee.

No reimbursement for overnight accommodations will be made within fifty (50) miles of the traveler's official headquarters and/or residence.

If a dependent accompanies an employee on an authorized business trip, only those expenses which may be directly attributed to the employee may be reimbursed.

Gratuities are not an allowable reimbursement for State employees. When paid as a part of a billing banquet, luncheon, etc., gratuities will be allowed.

Porterage, in general, is not an allowable reimbursement for State employees. It may be reimbursed when an employee flies to a major city out-of-state where there usually is no option concerning baggage handling. Porterage may also be reimbursed when an employee has heavy, excess equipment needed to conduct official State business.

Telephone calls made for official business of the State are reimbursable. An employee may be reimbursed for a brief personal call to his/her residence (averaging not more than one call per day). A fixed charge by a hotel for telephone service may be charged as part of lodging.

Mileage for use of personal vehicle on official business trips will be paid at the rate of $.67 cents per mile.

Employees traveling to the same locations should share vehicles to the extent practicable.

Mileage between the employee's home and his/her place of employment is not subject to reimbursement. However, when an employee leaves on a business trip directly from his/her home, and does not go by the employee's headquarters, the employee shall be eligible for reimbursement for actual mileage beginning at his/her residence.

The Appropriation Act states that transportation for official State business will be accomplished by the most economical method. Based on this, an employee who elected to drive his/her car for his/her convenience when more economical modes of travel are available is entitled to reimbursement for:

• Mileage equal to the amount of coach airplane fare.
• Vicinity mileage incurred on official business in lieu of using a taxi.
• Parking fees equal to that which would have been incurred if car had been parked at airport.
• Subsistence based on date and time airline connections would have been made for departure and return. Any period of time exceeding these guidelines would be at the employee's expense and no subsistence could be paid.

The University encourages faculty and staff traveling on University business to use their personal vehicles and be reimbursed at the rate per mile authorized in the Appropriation Act each year. Currently that rate is $.655 cents per mile.

In those cases where faculty/staff prefer not to use their personal vehicles or their personal vehicles are inappropriate for some reason to accommodate the particular trip made, the University has negotiated a contract with Enterprise Rent-A-Car to furnish (TA to be submitted to physical plant at least 24 hours prior to departure time) a late model (less than 40,000 miles) vehicle at a daily rental rate. All drivers must be certified by the Lander University Safety Director prior to leasing. The daily rental rates, which include unlimited mileage (in SC, NC, and GA; outside these areas 150 miles are allowed before additional charges [$.20] per mile) and eight gallons of gasoline (physical plant will charge the university account of gas card users for additional gasoline purchases), are as follow:

• 4-Door Mid-Size Sedan $44.55/day
• 7-8 Passenger Mini Van $59.95/day
• 15 Passenger Van $83.05/day

Procedure

A. Authorization Form.

B. Travel by personal vehicle - No change to existing procedure. Check the "Personal Vehicle" block on the Travel Authorization form and compute the Estimated Transportation amount by multiplying the estimated mileage for the trip times $.655 cents per mile.

C. Travel by leased vehicle - Complete a Travel Authorization form and check the "University Vehicle" block. In the space beside this block indicate which type of vehicle you will need (4-Door Mid-Sedan, 7-8 Passenger Mini Van, or 15 Passenger Van) and the time of day that you need to depart. Compute the Estimated Transportation amount by multiplying the number of days for your trip times the daily rate applicable to the type of vehicle required. In addition, if your trip will exceed 150 miles, you will need to include in your estimate an amount for gasoline (above the 8 gallons that comes with the vehicle) that will be charged to the State Credit Card. For estimation purposes, it is suggested that you assume a vehicle will average 18 miles per gallon of gasoline and that the average cost per gallon is $3.195 ($.655 per mile for lease vehicles).

Arrangements for your leased vehicle will be made by the vehicle coordinator in the Physical Plant Office upon receipt of your approved Travel Authorization form. You will pick up the leased vehicle at the Physical Plant and return it there at the completion of your trip. Remember that the leasing company must be given 24 hours notice to provide a vehicle, so you should submit your Travel Authorization well in advance of your departure date so that it will arrive at the Physical Plant in plenty of time to order the vehicle.

Your department will be charged monthly for the leased vehicle and any extra gasoline charges.

When a State employee is traveling in or out of the State on office State business, the following maximum reimbursement will apply:

• The cost of meals will be reimbursed up to the maximum as provided for in the Single Calendar Day schedule. The time limitations for breakfast will not apply for overnight trips when returning early in the morning.
• State employees who are required to perform their duties during the night shall be allowed reimbursement for breakfast even though their arrival time back to residence or headquarters occurs prior to 11:00 am if the following conditions are met:
  • Residence and/or headquarters.
  • Official travel begins after 8:30 pm
  • Required to be in travel status for a period of not less than six hours. Actual hotel/motel cost will be reimbursed for a single room rate or one half the cost of the double room rate if shared with another State employee. A paid receipt must be attached to the employee's travel voucher.

In determining the maximum amount of subsistence for meals which may be reimbursed, the following time schedule will be adhered to:

When reimbursements for meals are claimed, the date and time of arrival and departure, starting point and destination must be shown. If this information is not on the travel voucher, the voucher will be returned and payment will be delayed. The traveler must initial any changes in departure and arrival times.

All information requested in this section must be provided before the reimbursement voucher can be processed.

A) Complete date and time (denote A.M. or P.M.) leaving and returning to home base and the destination of the trip. If your trip has more than one destination, follow the same procedure for each one.

B) If you are using a personal vehicle, fill in the mileage driven. If your trip has more than one destination, follow the same procedure for each one. The current reimbursement rate is 67 cents per mile. (67 Lease vehicle)

C) Fill in the cost of lodging plus any taxes in the column headed LODGING. Any telephone calls should be listed in the section for OTHER EXPENSES. Any meals charged to your room should be included in the column for MEALS.

D) Write the total meal cost in the MEALS column. When reimbursement for meals is claimed, the date and time of arrival and departure, starting point and destination must be shown. If this information is not on the travel reimbursement, the reimbursement will be returned and payment will be delayed. Any changes in departure and arrival times must be initialed by the traveler.

*Gratuities are not a reimbursable expense

You must obtain receipts for other expenses whenever possible. Other expenses include materials for workshops, taxi, bus, entry fees payable on site, registration fees paid by you, airline or train tickets purchased by you, parking or any other expenses reasonable and necessary to complete your trip. If there is any doubt about other expenses being reimbursable, list it here and the Business Office will check the current travel regulations to determine whether the expenses are allowed.

A) Prepaid expenses are any amounts paid on your behalf in advance of your departure. The most common prepayments are detailed in this section. Space is provided for any prepayment not detailed.

B) The line for university vehicle should be completed only if you are using a Lander vehicle. The amount for this expense is calculated the same as if you were using a personal vehicle. (See Section II). It is necessary to include this amount in order to arrive at a total cost for the trip. (This amount will be subtracted in Section VI.) Enter the total miles driven in the highlighted section.

The totals are calculated for you when you use the online version of the form.

A) If you received a travel advance, fill in the amount of the advance on the line for TRAVEL ADVANCE.

B) The remaining amounts will be calculated for you if you use the online version of the form. If you received an advance in excess of the amount to be reimbursed, the excess amount should be returned when the reimbursement form is turned in.

A) The traveler to be reimbursed must sign the form before it can be processed.

B) The Academic Vice President or Chairperson/Department Head must sign the form only if the reimbursement exceeds the authorized amount on the Travel Authorization.

C) Fill in the Index, Account Code and Amount to be reimbursed for each account number to be charged.