FRENSHIP ISD TRAVEL REFERENCE GUIDE 2017-2018 Frenship ISD Travel Reference Guide follows State and Federal guidelines. Texas Education Code requires School Districts in the State of Texas to limit Travel Reimbursements to the State Rate. Frenship ISD will reimburse its employees for reasonable, allowable expenses incurred in carrying out authorized District activities that have prior approval of the employee s immediate supervisor. All reimbursement requests must be submitted using the proper District forms that can be found on the District s website. Please contact your Designated Travel Contact with any questions. For further inquiries you may reach Kim Day at 806-866-0963 Ext 200. SEE THE FOLLOWING PAGES FOR: ALLOWANCES, LIMITS, INCLUSIONS, & EXCLUSIONS TRAVEL REIMBURSEMENT PROCEDURES SAMPLES OF FORMS
FEDERAL FUND TRAVEL: Use of Federal Funds for travel has change to be comply with Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) requirements. All meal receipts must be turned in for reimbursement when using Federal Funds. Any travel request to use Federal Funds must be submitted and approved in Eduphoria, before a PO is entered. Any PO entered without an Eduphoria request completed and approved will be disapproved by Melissa Wade. All Request and PO s using Federal Funds must have the following details: Goal 1, Objective 1, and Strategy 1, with a detailed description. Lodging- Federal per diem rate is $85.00 a night per person for in-state travel. Any amount over $85.00 has to be cover by local funds or other source of funds. NO Out-of-State travel using Federal Funds will be allowed. FISD will not approve travel outside the state of Texas utilizing federal funds. The only exception to this will be the NEIT federal seed money grant previously awarded to the district prior to the implementation of this manual. Airfare- we need a minimum of 1 month before the trip is scheduled to book the airfare. Please make sure the lowest fare possible is being selected. Meals- All meal receipts must be itemized, if they are not itemized they will not be accepted. No tax or tips will be reimburse. Those amounts need to be deducted from reimbursement. Any receipt with alcohol or tobacco will not be accepted, please make sure a separate receipt is given for those items. If your receipts has either of these items, the whole receipt is voided. On receipts, no more mark outs for alcohol or tobacco will be allowed. 1 P a g e
REGISTRATION FEES: LODGING: When more than one District employee is attending a conference or workshop, hotel accommodations should be shared. This applies to persons of the same sex. If reservations are not cancelled according to the hotels cancellation policy then the employee will pay the fee. *State Tax will not be reimbursed for in state hotel stay. A Texas Hotel occupancy Tax Exempt Certificate must be taken with the employee to the hotel.* Your travel contact will have this. Conference/workshop registrations need to be processed in advance with approval from employee s supervisor. This is separate from your travel Purchase Order. A completed registration form or information about the conference must be submitted for purchase order approval and payment. Please pay close attention to deadlines. The PO must be made out to Citi Bank if paying with credit card or to the conference if a check is required. You will research pricing, etc. and turn it in to the secretary to input the requisition for a PO. After the Purchase Order, showing the nightly room rate & number of nights needed, goes through the approval process and is printed, the travel contact or traveler will use the PO to make reservations. You can use your personal credit card to reserve the room or make the reservation with the campus district reservation credit card. Campus or department secretary will have this card. NOTE: If you choose to use your own credit or debit card for reservation, you will then pay with the district card you are given with your travel packet. The only way your card would be charged is if you use outsource website or no show for your reservation. You must turn in your receipt with your paperwork at the end of the trip. No state tax should be on the hotel receipt in the state of Texas. Federal Funds- If lodging is required for travel using Federal Funds, the allowance rate has changed. Federal Fund allowance rate for lodging per night per person will be $85.00. Anything over $85.00 must be covered by Local Funds. This is comply with the requirement by EDGAR. The use of Federal Funds for lodging or other related travel expenses, will only be allowed for use in the state of Texas. No out 2 P a g e
AIRFARE: All request for flights need to be submitted a minimum of 1 month out from the business trip. Lowest possible fare is preferred, so please be mindful when searching flights. Inputting PO Please provide us the traveler s full legal name and date of birth. All flight costs associated with deviations from the required travel plans, such as pre or post personal days or canceled travel plans for personal reasons shall be paid and/reimbursed by the traveler. of state lodging or other related travel expenses will be covered by Federal Funds. Prior approval is needed to fly for District business. If approved, flights must be booked through the SWABIZ district account after a PO is received. This is done by Kim Day at the Business Services office; therefore, it is important to provide all the necessary information (ex. Flight time and number(s). If there are multiple flight numbers please include them on the travel PO to ensure you are booked on the desired flight. All request for flights need to be submitted a minimum of 1 month out from the business trip. Lowest possible fare is preferred, so please be mindful when searching flights. *If a flight is cancelled, the traveler is responsible for using the travel funds within 1 year of the original booking date for school related travel. If no school related travel is an option the travel funds must be reimbursed back to the district by the traveler. A personal check or cash will need to be submitted to the Business Office for the travel funds. Once the business office has received reimbursement they will provide the traveler with the confirmation number and expiration date, so the funds can be used how they see fit. However, if the funds expire before being used the expense will be collect from the traveler. A request for payment will be sent to travel contact and traveler. If the traveler leaves the school district and travel funds are available, they must reimburse the district back with a check or cash. If payment isn t received, the amount will be withheld from their last check. Travel funds cannot be transferred to a person (s). Once the flight is booked under the traveler s name the flight becomes their full responsibility. Each traveler requesting airfare need to be aware of this. 3 P a g e
VEHICLE RENTALS: If approved for car rental, your travel contact will put in a requisition for a Purchase Order. After the PO is approved and printed a copy will be sent to travel contact. After you receive the PO either the travel contact or the traveler will go to the Enterprise link on our website to reserve. Once you have got to the Enterprise link to book your car, select direct bill. Follow the steps and enter your information to reserve. This link can be found on the FISD website under Departments Business Services Travel > Enterprise Car Rental. If your trip is cancelled please make sure to cancel your rental car. If a rental car is needed because no school car is available you will need to contact Kim Day so your PO can be updated. You will use your travel PO to reserve the car. If a PO will have to be entered once it s approved or printed the travel contact will be notified You must have a travel PO number to reserve. DISTRICT VEHICLE USAGE: Requests must be submitted through Eduphoria. Trips with students take first priority; then, vehicles are allotted based on first request. Requests must be submitted 7 days prior to travel in order to guarantee enough time to assign you a vehicle. You are required to refuel the vehicle before it s returned, no matter how far the trip. If the vehicle is not refueled when you return it, your account will be charged a $25.00 fee. PARKING & GROUND TRANSFORTATION: If there is a reasonable cause for taxi, shuttle, toll or parking fees, these will be reimbursed with the original receipts attached to the expense report. If the company will accept a credit card, you may use the district travel credit card to pay for these expenses. You must get a receipt. If no receipt is provided you will be responsible to cover expenses. 4 P a g e
EMPLOYEE MEALS: Meals will not be reimbursed for day trips; only when overnight lodging is required, will meals be reimbursed. (IRS regulations, taxable fringe benefit) As of September 01, 2017, employee & student meal allotment has increased. Employee only travel, meal receipts do not need to be turned in for reimbursement unless Federal Funds were used. Guideline for meals Depart Before Return After Reimburse Amt 7:00 AM 7:00 AM $ 8.00 Breakfast 12:00 Noon 12:00 Noon $ 12.00 Lunch 6:00 PM 6:00 PM $ 20.00 Dinner The maximum allowable expense per day is $40.00, with an overnight stay. The meals will be reimbursement by per diem. Maximum reimbursement for full day is $40.00 Breakfast reimbursement is $8.00 Lunch reimbursement is $12.00 Dinner reimbursement is $20.00 Breakfast/Lunch reimbursement is $20.00 Lunch/Dinner reimbursement is $30.00 Employees will be reimbursed per diem up to maximum allotted amount per day. STUDENT MEALS: Student trips with 15 students or less will be required to use the travel credit card (no exceptions). If you have over 15 students, it is at your discretion to use a credit card or have a meal advancement check. A meal advance check will be made out to the traveler and the traveler will have to cash. Traveler must cash and distribute for the trip s meals. All receipts must be turned in for meals when a school credit card is used. No sales tax can be applied on receipt. Your travel contact will enter a requisition for a PO to be approved. Please include the travelers name on the Requisition/PO. This detail gives Kim Day knowledge of who will be checking out the district card or who the check needs to be payable too. Once the PO is approve the travel contact will be notify with a copy of the PO by email. If you re using a credit card, please use vendor Travel Specialist for a check Travel Meal Advance. If a check is requested a roster must be emailed to Kim Day before a check can be cut. 5 P a g e
Guideline for meals Leave Before Return After Reimburse Amt 7:00 AM 7:30 AM $ 7.00 Breakfast 12:00 AM 12:00 PM $ 9.00 Lunch 6:00 PM 6:00 PM $ 9.00 Dinner The maximum allowable expense per day is $25.00, with an overnight stay. The meals will be reimbursement by per diem. Maximum reimbursement for full day is $25.00 Breakfast reimbursement is $7.00 Lunch reimbursement is $9.00 Dinner reimbursement is $9.00 Breakfast/Lunch reimbursement is $16..00 Lunch/Dinner reimbursement is $18.00 Tips can be included up to 15% for student travel. Any amount over 15% will be covered by teacher, coach, or sponsor. Delivery fees will be covered by Frenship ISD with a max of $25.00. RECEIPTS: Original receipts are required for ALL Federal Funds Travel or Student Group Travel. Receipts must be attached to the Employee Meal Attachment Form (for Employee Federal Fund meals only), Student Meal Attachment Form (for Student meals), Field Trip Meal Attachment Form, or any other attachment form that applies to the travel. All receipts need to be attached to the proper attachment form. These forms are located on the FISD website under Departments Business Services Travel. All receipts must be attached to the district approved attachment forms. Please see complete list of attachment forms below. 6 P a g e
Attachment Forms: NON-REIMBURSEABLE EXPENSES: Expenses not related to the purpose of the school business trip will not be reimbursed Out-of-State Trips Attachment forms to be turned in with all travel paperwork. Employee Meal Attachment Form Student Meal Attachment Form Field Trip Meal Attachment Form Gas Attachment Form Misc. Attachment Form Field Trip Misc. Attachment Form Enterprise Attachment Form EXPAMPLES: Tours or other entertainment Personal telephone calls Hotel room movie rentals Alcoholic beverages Tobacco Products Internet charges unless justified and approved by supervisor. Expenses incurred for a spouse or children Students may be permitted to take out-of-state school-sponsored trips for the following purposes: 1. Instructional purposes (field trips and excursions). Approval for the trip shall be from the principal. 2. Activities of school-sponsored or - sanctioned clubs or organizations. Approval for the trip shall be from the Superintendent. 3. Other sanctioned competitions. Approval for the trip shall be from the principal. TRAVEL PACKETS AND TRIP EXPENSE FORMS: The Employee Travel Expense Form, Employee Reimbursement Form, Student Travel Expense Form, Field Trip Expense Form and all other Attachment Forms are on the FISD website under Departments Business Services Travel. The traveler/travel contact is responsible for printing these out. The Hotel Occupancy Tax Exempt Certificate (if overnight) is available through your travel contact. The credit card, meal check (if applicable), and vehicle keys (if applicable) are to be picked up from the Business Services Office. Fill out these forms completely! Include your departure & return dates and times. Tape/staple original receipts to the applicable forms, please label receipts. All Travel reimbursements should be turned in to the campus secretary no later than 2 business days after travel. Please be mindful of the Business Services Check Schedule when anticipating any reimbursements. 7 P a g e