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General Travel Information

 

Airline Tickets

  • Employee should utilize commercial air transportation when it is more cost effective and efficient to travel by air than by vehicle.
  • Employee should obtain the lowest available airfare to the specified destination. To obtain airfare via the direct bill process
    1) Employee should submit their travel authorization prior to contacting the travel agency.
    2) Determine the best airfare rate available.
    3) Travel agency will contact the Office of the Controller before issuing ticket to get approval.
    4) Ticket will be processed by travel agent and the Office of the Controller. Employee will be contacted when ticket is ready to be picked up.
  • Only coach travel fares will be paid or reimbursed.
  • If you choose to purchase your ticket, you may be reimbursed prior to your travel. For reimbursements, submit travel authorization, copy of ticket or proof of purchase/receipt, and a travel expense form.

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Lodging

Reimbursement Requirements

  • Employee must travel more than 50 miles from their home office, headquarters or residence in order to be reimbursed for lodging expenses.
  • Employee should make the reservation in advance, utilize minimum rate accommodations, avoid "deluxe" hotels and obtain corporate or government rates whenever possible.
  • State and local government officials and employees traveling within the state on official business are exempt from paying the county or municipal excise tax on lodging ("hotel/motel" or "occupancy" tax). Employee must submit a copy of the tax exempt form to the hotel at check in. If the hotel refuses to exempt the tax, the employee should pay the tax and submit it for reimbursement. When submitting the travel expense form, the employee should submit documentation from the hotel of their refusal to exempt the tax. The Office of the Controller will submit this information to the State Accounting Office.

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Meal Reimbursement

  • Employees traveling overnight will be paid a per diem amount designed to cover the cost of meals (including taxes and tips) based on the number of meals per day for which the employee is eligible.
  • Employees are generally eligible for three meals per day other than the day of departure and day of return.
  • Enter departure, return times and location (city) where meals were purchased.
  • See Day of Departure/Return Chart for eligible meal breakdown.
  • If any meal is included as a part of the cost of conference registration, this meal should not be considered eligible in the calculation of per diem.
  • In-State Per Diem Rate Chart
  • In-State High Cost Per Diem Rate Chart for high cost counties in Georgia - Chatham, Cobb, Dekalb, Fulton, Glynn and Gwinnett
  • Federal Per Diem Rates for out-of-state travel can be found at http://www.gsa.gov/perdiem
  • Breakdown by meals for federal per diem rates can be found at http://www.gsa.gov/mie
  • Employees traveling outside of Georgia may receive meal per diem amounts up to the federal per diem rates - less the $3 federal incidentals allowance.
  • Foreign Travel Per Diem rates can be found at http://www.state.gov/m/a/als/prdm

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Mileage Reimbursement

The statewide travel regulations require that the most cost advantageous method of travel be used by employees traveling on official state business.  The traveler should compare the cost of travel in their personal vehicle, a University fleet vehicle and a commercially rented vehicle using the statewide contract with Enterprise Car Rental.  Advantageous use may be determined by energy conservation, total cost to the State (including cost of overtime, lost work time and actual transportation costs), total distance traveled, number of points visited and number of travelers.  Documentation of the determination of “advantageous use” must be submitted with each travel expense statement.  Mileage reimbursement for travel in a personal vehicle will be based on the tier rates below.
  • Tier 1 Rate - When it is determined that a personal motor vehicle is the most advantageous form of travel, the employee will be reimbursed for business miles traveled as follows:
    Automobile
    $0.55 per mile
    Motorcycle
    $0.52 per mile
    Aircraft
    $1.24 per mile

  • Tier 2 Rate - If an agency owned vehicle is available and its use is determined to be most advantageous to the state, OR if it is determined that a rental vehicle is the recommended method of travel, but a personal motor vehicle is used, the employee will be reimbursed for business miles traveled at the rate of $0.285 per mile.
  • Tier 3 Rate - When a government-owned vehicle is assigned directly to an employee, but that employee utilizes a personal motor vehicle, the employee will be reimbursed for business miles traveled at the rate of $0.125 per mile.
  • Normal commuting miles must be deducted when calculating business miles if the employee departs from his/her residence or returns to his/her residence. If travel occurs on a weekend or holiday, mileage is calculated from the point of departure with no reduction for normal commuting miles.
  • Must report odometer readings on travel expense form.

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Parking Fees/Tolls/Mass Transit/Shuttle/Taxi

  • Parking fees, tolls or mass transit (buses, trams, subway) expenses incurred while on official business may be reimbursed. Receipts are required for parking, tolls or mass transit transactions of $10.00 or greater.  If it is not possible to obtain a receipt or if the receipt is lost, the traveler should complete all sections of a Missing Receipt Form and have it approved by their Supervisor or Department Head.  The approved Missing Receipt Form should be submitted with the printed expense report documentation package to receive reimbursement.  For missing or no receipt for parking, tolls, or mass transit under $10.00, the traveler should state in the comments section of their electronic expense report that no receipt was available. (effective 3/15/09)
  • Shuttle and taxi expenses incurred while on official business may be reimbursed.  Receipts are required for reimbursement of taxis and shuttles regardless of the amount.  If it is not possible to obtain a receipt or if the receipt is lost, the traveler should complete all sections of a Missing Receipt Form and have it approved by their Supervisor or Department head.  The approved Missing Receipt Form should be submitted with the printed expense report documentation package to receive reimbursement. (effective 3/15/09)

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Rental of Motor Vehicles

  • Information concerning the In-State Commercial Car Rental can be found here.
  • Information concerning the Out-of-State Commercial Car Rental contract with National Car Rental can be found here.
  • Information concerning University fleet vehicles can be found here.

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Registration Fees

  • For prepaid registration fees, the employee should submit a check request made payable to the vendor, registration forms and travel authorization.
  • If the registration fee is paid by the employee, include this reimbursable expense on the travel expense form.
  • Original paid receipt must be included with travel expense form.


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Reimbursement Procedures

  • Employee requesting reimbursement for travel expenses are required to submit their claim on the employee travel expense form . Information must be entered on the on-line form and then printed for signature. A travel authorization must also be on file in the Office of the Controller.
  • Request should include itemized expenses for all authorized expenses, explanations of any unusual expense, purpose of trip and types of transportation used.
  • Employees are required to sign their travel expense statement attesting that the information presented on the form is accurate. Employees who provide false information are subject to criminal penalty of a felony for false statements, which is subject to punishment by fine of not more than $1,000 or by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than five years.
  • Employees are required to submit receipts for the following:
    Meals purchased in lieu of those provided at conference/training,
    Lodging,
    Airline or Railroad Fares,
    Rental of Motor Vehicles,
    Gasoline purchased for Rental Vehicles,
    Supplies,
    Registration Fees, and
    Visa/Passport Fees
  • All travel expense reimbursements will be direct deposited into the bank account designated by the employee. A direct deposit form must be completed prior to the first travel expense reimbursement.
  • A quick checklist is provided to ensure your expense statement is completed thoroughly.

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Travel Authorization

  • Travel Authorization should be approved prior to travel.
  • Travel Authorization is held in the home department until an expense report is submitted for reimbursement.  Original travel authorization should be submitted with paper expense report. 
  • Please see the Travel Authorization Institutional Guideline and Procedure for complete details regarding travel authorizations.

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Individual trip less than 180 miles

DOCUMENTATION OF THE DETERMINATION OF “ADVANTAGEOUS USE”
PURPOSE OF TRAVEL:     INDIVIDUAL TRIP LESS THAN 180 MILES (round trip)


This justification will serve as a blanket justification to cover all employees who are traveling less than 180 miles round trip in a single one day trip.

The state travel regulations require employees to certify that using their personal motor vehicle is the most advantageous form of travel in order to be reimbursed at $0.505 per mile.  If their personal motor vehicle is not the most advantageous form of travel, but they choose to utilize this form of transportation, the employee will be reimbursed at $.285 per mile.

The approximate cost for a trip of no more than 180 miles round trip for one day in a personal motor vehicle is $90.90.  For the purpose of this comparison, a value of $25.00 has been identified as being the cost of the time involved in obtaining a fleet or commercially rented vehicle.   The time cost of $25.00 should be added to the actual cost of obtaining a fleet or commercially rented vehicle.  The total cost of a fleet vehicle would be $95 ($70 + $25.00) and the cost of a commercial rental would be $91.22 ($66.22 + $25.00).  Therefore, any employee who is traveling by personal motor vehicle for less than 180 round trip miles involving one trip will be considered as traveling using the most advantageous method.  The employee will not be expected to turn in a separate cost comparison certifying the most advantageous form of travel was a personal vehicle.  The employee will be reimbursed at $0.505 per mile. .

Special Note Concerning Determination of Business Miles Traveled:
Employees may be reimbursed for the mileage incurred from the point of departure to the travel destination.  If an employee departs from or returns to his/her residence, the normal one-way commute miles should be deducted in order to determine the business miles traveled.

Approved By:  James R. Sutherland, VP for Business & Finance
For Fiscal Year beginning July 1, 2008

Revised:   June 12, 2008
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