Cowlitz County commissioners voted to rescind the county's older travel rules and adopt a revised Allowable Expenses and Reimbursement Policy after members and elected officials raised concerns about language that could expand reimbursements for remote or recurring off-site work.

The board moved item 17 from the consent agenda for discussion; Kaylee, a finance staff member who helped draft the policy, said the county pulled comparable travel policies from other jurisdictions and incorporated guidance from the State Auditor's Office (SAO) and the Municipal Research and Services Center (MRSC). "It's gone through multiple levels of review," Kaylee said, and the new draft aims to give departments clearer instructions on what expenses are allowable and how the auditor can better audit claims.

Cowlitz County Assessor Emily Wilcox told commissioners she supported an overhaul but asked the board to "table this item and allow staff to workshop the wording, especially around the definition of work area and the treatment of remote work," arguing a vague definition combined with a 60-mile rule could turn routine commutes into reimbursable travel and create unintended financial and fairness impacts across departments. Wilcox said the state's Office of Financial Management is explicit that routine trips to a duty station are not normally reimbursable and urged clearer telework agreements for employees whose duty station is not the county campus.

Finance staff responded that section f of the draft policy specifies that "travel between an employee's usual place of residence and their usual place of work for normal commuting purposes is not eligible for mileage reimbursement," and that the draft includes approval ladders (department head or elected official) for one-off exceptions. Commissioners debated whether the board should approve the policy now and amend it later or table it for redrafting. Chair said the draft was "head and shoulders above what we currently have" and that amendments could follow if needed.

Commissioner motions carried and the policy was approved by the board. The vote on adopting the new Allowable Expenses and Reimbursement Policy was recorded in the meeting as in favor; commissioners indicated they would accept future tweaks and that any department- or director-specific reimbursement beyond routine commuting would require approval in the manner described in the policy.

Next steps: staff will finalize the formatting and, if needed, bring technical amendments or clarifying language (notably the "work area" definition and the 60-mile rule) back to the board for resolution.