Miami County finance staff presented a final draft of an updated Administrative Business Travel Policy at the July 30 study session, recommending written rules that align daily practice and set clearer meal, lodging and vehicle rules.
Sydney Ming, finance, said the draft formalizes existing practice that employees may only receive lodging reimbursement when traveling more than 60 miles from the County Administration Building. "Currently, we're just updating the policy to match what we're already doing, but it's never actually been written into the policy," Ming said.
Meals and tips
Ming told commissioners the draft replaces the older fixed allowances with references to the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) locality rates, noting sample figures in the draft for non‑metro areas (the draft lists amounts that staff cited as "$16.19 and $28" for meal allowances in outside‑metro areas). Tax is included in the meal allowance but tips are not; the draft continues a county limit of up to a 20% tip.
Per diem and card use
Commissioners discussed per diem versus receipt-based reimbursement. Ming said the county had evaluated per diem previously and the commission had opted not to adopt it; staff said the county prefers receipt‑based reimbursement because per‑diem that does not require receipts can become a taxable fringe benefit. Staff also emphasized current reconciliation procedures: departmental reconcilers collect P‑card receipts for review by office staff and finance, and Shane (county finance leadership) and Ming review charges when payments are written.
Transportation and county vehicle use
The draft states that, if a countywide vehicle is available, county staff should use it rather than claim mileage on a personal vehicle; the countywide vehicle is reservable by online form and keys are kept in Administration. Ming said exceptions make sense for staff who would need to drive out of their way to pick up the county vehicle.
Systems and workload
Commissioners expressed concern about staff time spent reconciling P‑card receipts and asked staff to evaluate expense‑tracking software or better tools; staff estimated a substantial portion of reconciler duties falls to one staff member and recommended exploring software to reduce manual work.
Next steps
Staff said department heads had received the draft and the item was scheduled as action item No. 4 on the afternoon agenda for final consideration by the commission.
Ending
Ming said rates will be updated annually when GSA posts new locality rates in October, and commissioners asked that staff notify employees by email when that occurs.