Scope

This travel policy applies to all SPPD employees who travel on city business for distances of 100 miles or more one way from Saint Paul or for those who travel and stay overnight outside of the seven-county Twin Cities metropolitan area on city business. Travel at City expense is permitted to accomplish work-related business, training and professional development. All travel must serve a public purpose and be directly related to the functions of the City. 

City Employee and Appointed Official Authorization

Authorizing supervisors are responsible to ensure, prior to approval of any travel, that funds are available in a City Council approved budget.  Employees must submit a Travel Training Approval Form for approval prior to making any travel arrangements or expenditures. The Travel Approval Form must include the budget code and dollar amount. Upon approval, the Executive Assistant in the Assistant Chief’s Office must contact the Office of Financial Services to obtain a Travel authorization number (T#) which must be used as the authority for payments related to the travel claim.

Travel Time and Extended Stays

The authorizing official or his/her designee will be responsible for determining the appropriate number of days allowed for travel. The number of days allowed are determined based on the actual start and end times of the conference. The maximum time allowed for travel will be the day prior to the start of the conference until the day after the conference or meeting concludes, unless costs for travel can be reduced by an extended stay. Every effort will be made to bring the employee home the day the training or conference ends.  Employees are not required to make an extended stay in order to reduce the price of an airline ticket. However, if an individual chooses to stay over an extra night to obtain a reduced airfare, the savings must total more than the daily per diem for lodging and meals, as defined in this policy.  Employee’s time will be based on their regular work schedule and no comp time or overtime will be approved. Any excess travel time falling within the normally-scheduled work week will be at the employee’s expense.

Transportation

Transportation expenses incurred for travel by any means will be reimbursed according to the method of travel up to the amount of  airfare available when the travel was approved (which should be at least 30 days in advance) as indicated by the City’s travel agency or another reputable travel reservation service, such as http://www.delta.com or www.travelocity.com. This documentation must be provided with the Travel Expense Claim Form when not traveling by air.

By Air: Airline reservations should be made at least 30 days, or as far in advance as possible, in order to take advantage of reduced fares. Travel by air will be reimbursed for the lowest cost airfare available for one person traveling from the boarding port to the port of destination and return. The employee or official is responsible for the cost of cancellation of non-refundable ticketing, lost tickets or reissue/change of ticket if done at the traveler’s request.

Employee or Official’s Personal Vehicle: Travel by an employee’s personal vehicle will be reimbursed for mileage as taken from a trip planning service, such as MapQuest.com or the American Automobile Association (AAA), from the employee’s personal residence or worksite to the hotel or motel where the employee will be staying or the conference or meeting location, whichever is the shortest distance, not to exceed the cost of airfare.  The rate per mile for reimbursement shall be determined by the City’s Administrative Code Chapter 33 - Reimbursement for Car Expense and/or the appropriate bargaining unit contract.  This covers all expenses traveling to and from the destination.  If more than one employee rides in the vehicle, only the owner of the vehicle will be reimbursed for vehicle travel. The employee will be responsible for all fines and damage or liability due to an accident. The employee has the option of using a department gas card in lieu of mileage reimbursement.

City-Owned Vehicle: The employee’s use of a city-owned vehicle must be approved in advance. If the vehicle will be going out of state, insurance must be obtained through the City’s Risk Management Service. Request forms can be obtained from the Assistant Chief’s office.

By Bus or Train: Travel by commercial bus or train will be reimbursed, up to the amount of airfare, to and from the destination.

Taxi: Taxi fare will be reimbursed for transportation between the employee’s home and the airport (or vice-versa), and from the destination airport to the place of lodging or to the meeting site (or vice-versa). Airport shuttles, vans or courtesy cars should be used if they are reasonably available. The public purpose for any other taxi fares must be explained. Taxi service to and from a restaurant will not be reimbursed unless there is no restaurant easily accessible from conference center or hotel. Itemized receipts are required for such transportation costs, and fares in excess of $15.00.

Automobile Rental: No reimbursement will be made for expenses of automobile rental unless there is prior approval by the Chief. The reimbursement rate for authorized automobile rental shall be the actual costs for up to an intermediate size vehicle. Only official business-related use of a rental automobile will be reimbursed.  Any personal use of a rented vehicle must be reported by the employee and a prorated portion of the total cost deducted from the bill and paid by the employee or official.  The employee will be responsible for all fines, damage or liability due to an accident. The employee’s personal automobile insurance policy is primary and must include both no-fault and liability coverage. No reimbursement will be made to the employee for additional insurance coverage provided by the rental company. Only gas used for official purpose may be reimbursed. Gas used for side trips and/or sightseeing must be paid by the traveler.

Parking

Parking expense incurred at the final destination place of lodging is reimbursable when traveling by a personal or rental automobile. Airport parking expense can be reimbursed up to the amount of taxi fare to and from the employee’s home to airport, whichever is less. Itemized receipts for parking expenses are required for reimbursement.

Lodging

Lodging expense will be reimbursed for the actual amount paid for a single standard room at the conference hotel or at the United States General Services Administration (GSA) maximum lodging rate for the destination city. Any additional costs incurred if accompanied by a non city employee will be at the employee’s expense. A two-person room rate will be reduced to a single person room rate if one of the persons staying in the room is not a city employee. If an employee is attending a conference, reimbursement will be made for the single (one person) room rate, at the conference facility. A conference facility is either directly at the site of the conference or listed in the brochure as a conference hotel or within close proximity of the conference location.  Lodging expense incurred en route to a final destination will not be reimbursed unless specifically approved by the Chief. Itemized receipts are required for all lodging expenses.

Meals

Reimbursement for meals will be made based on GSA per diem Meals and Incidental Expenses (M&IE) rate for the destination city or the closest comparable destination.  Meal expense will be prorated for part days as listed on the GSA webpage.  Tips and sales tax are included in the GSA M&IE rate.  Acceptable tips are no more than 20% of the food cost. If actual expenses exceed the applicable M&IE per diem rate, the excess amount is a personal expense of the traveler.  Meal expenses incurred en route to a destination will not be reimbursed unless the travel exceeds six hours in duration and the expense is specifically approved by the Chief. Meals included as part of the conference, meeting and/or hotel lodging will not be reimbursed. The daily per diem will be reduced according to the GSA M&IE breakdown. The City will use the GSA per diem rates effective on January 1, of any given year, for the entire calendar year. The use of the GSA M&IE rate will prevent travel expense payments from becoming taxable income to employees and will minimize the City’s administrative costs for managing travel expenses. Only nonalcoholic beverages purchased with a meal are reimbursable. No reimbursement will be made for alcoholic beverages or snack items. 

Airline or Hotel Benefits

Minnesota law (Chapter 15.435) provides that whenever public funds are used to pay for airline travel by elected officials or public employees, any credits, frequent flyer miles or other benefits, including compensation for denied boarding, issued by an airline to an individual passenger must accrue to the public body (the city) financing the travel.  In the event the issuing airline will not honor a transfer or assignment of any credit or benefit, the individual passenger (city employee or official) shall report in writing the receipt of the credit or benefit to the Office of Financial Services within 90 days of receipt of the benefit or credit. Some lodging facilities also provide a free night of lodging or specified discount after a number of days paid. Such benefits are the property of the city and must also be reported to the Office of Financial Services within 90 days of receipt. The Office of Financial Services will maintain the information provided by city employees on the amount of city-paid frequent flyer miles or similar non-transferable benefits for review by the State Auditor.

Travel Expense Claim Form

A Travel Expense Claim Form must be completed, signed by the employee and submitted to the Assistant Chief’s Office with all required original itemized receipts. It shall be the Chief or his/her designee’s responsibility to review and sign the Travel Expense Claim Form consistent with this policy. The Travel Expense Claim Form must be submitted to the Office of Financial Services within 15 working days of the employee’s return from travel. Expenses on the Travel Expense Claim Form must be only for the employee whose name appears on the form.  Reimbursable expenses for other traveling city employees or officials must be submitted on separate forms.  Failure to submit the required forms and receipts within 15 days of return could be grounds for disciplinary action against the employee up to and including discharge.

The following original itemized receipts (a canceled check or credit card invoice [i.e., monthly statement] are not acceptable receipts) must be submitted with the Travel Expense Claim Form along with a copy of the Travel Approval Form:

  • Airline, other transportation carrier ticket or electronic ticketing documentation showing the fare paid, date, time and destination (staff should indicate whether the fare was charged to a personal credit card or the City’s procurement card);

  • Receipts for bag fees (documents traveled for each leg of the journey, to and from the destination);

  • Receipt or copy of the registration form for any conference or meeting registration fee, even if paid by the city in advance;

  • Itemized original lodging receipt;

  • Taxicab, shuttle van, airport limo or auto rental receipts;

  • Parking receipts

  • Receipts for any other authorized expenses.

  • If travel/training is being paid for from grant funding it is the responsibility of the person traveling to identify what receipts are required as part of the grant agreement. Failure to properly identify the grant requirements prior to travel may result in discipline.

    Travel Advances

    Travel advances are not an option. If travel causes undue monetary hardship, arrangements can be made to prepay everything except for ground transportation and meals.

    City Procurement (Credit) Card

    As a general rule, employees should not be issued a City of Saint Paul procurement credit card for travel. Arrangements can be made through the Assistant Chief’s office to prepay some expenses. All travel expenses made using the procurement card must be documented by itemized receipts. 

    Miscellaneous

  • Supplies and other expenses will be reimbursed if necessary to the trip; however, the employee must provide itemized receipts and justification for such expenditures, if separate from conference fees.

  • Internet fees are reimbursable only if required to conduct City business and approved in advance by the Chief of Police.

  • Reimbursement may be made for laundry expenses if the travel is more than four days.

  • Reimbursement for highway or bridge toll fees paid by the traveler will be made when the employee is authorized to travel by either personal vehicle, city-owned vehicle or rented vehicle. Receipts are required for reimbursement.

  • No reimbursement will be made for the purchase of alcoholic beverages, traveler’s checks, snacks or beverages not with a meal, or ATM fees.

This policy does not allow reimbursement for travel related expenses of non-City employees or officials.  A separate City Council resolution is needed to establish the authority and public purpose of any non-employee paid travel.

Expenditures for items not listed in the Travel Policy are not reimbursable.

Revised March 27, 2018

Last Edited: March 27, 2018