Travel & Expenses
 

Legal Information:

 Arizona Revised Statutes (A.R.S.) 15-342.5 requires the school district to prescribe procedures and amounts for reimbursing lodging and per diem expenses incurred for district purposes.  Reimbursement must not exceed the maximum amounts established by the Director of the Department of Administration and approved by the Joint Legislative Budget Committee pursuant to A.R.S. 38-624.C.

 The district can reimburse you for your travel related expenses that include mileage, meals, and lodging.  To be eligible for meal and room reimbursement, employees must be in authorized travel status and be at least 50 miles from their duty post and home. 

 The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires employees to be traveling “away from home” in order to exclude reimbursements for meals from their income.  The phrase “away from home” means to require someone to travel overnight, or long enough to require substantial “sleep or rest” (further defined by IRS regulations).  As a result there will be no meal reimbursements for travel with no overnight stay.  We also cannot reimburse for the following:  Personal phone calls, entertainment, expenses for family members to accompany you, or for more than the maximum amounts established.

 USFR Memorandums set forth the mileage, meal allowance, and lodging reimbursement rates. Below is a summary of the information that will most likely affect you.  You are welcome, however, to view these documents or to call me with any questions that you might have.

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Mileage Reimbursement:

Mileage for private vehicles will be reimbursed at 44.5 cents per mile.

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 Lodging and meal rates in Arizona:

Lodging rates are exclusive of taxes.

Although the lodging reimbursement rate may not exceed the listed maximum, there is an exception for conference lodging.  For employees staying at a conference-designated hotel, the Department of Administration guidelines authorize reimbursement at the conference-lodging rate.  However, the conference brochure indicating lodging rates must accompany the lodging receipt, and reimbursement may not exceed those rates.

For travel that is less than 24 hours, the individual meal allowances are as follows:

A meal reimbursement cannot be claimed when substantial meals are provided at no expense to the employee at a state institution, on a airplane, included in conference registration fees, or provided on a complimentary basis by the facility where the employee is lodged.  A substantial meal is one that contains a serving of protein in the form of meat, poultry, fish, seafood, or eggs.

If you need rates for out of state, or is you have any questions or concerns please call Mr. Brown at 333-6587

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