Policies

CONVENTION – BUSINESS MEETINGS – OTHER TRAVEL ON BEHALF OF ASPE St. Louis Chapter

The following guide serves as the travel selection and reimbursement guidelines to be followed by The Board of Directors, hereinafter called the Board for the St. Louis Chapter of ASPE. These guidelines are to be used in determining the Chapter’s representative at functions determined by the Board as requiring representation by St. Louis Chapter of ASPE.

Travel and reimbursement shall also be dependent on sufficient funds being available at the time of authorization for the travel. It may not use anticipated funding other than that scheduled to be rebated by ASPE National Society. These guidelines are based on the Chapter having sufficient funds available. If it is determined the stated travel reimbursement amounts are excessive in relation to funds available; the board will determine any partial/full reimbursements already expended on a case by case basis

The following are regularly scheduled functions that would be considered by the Board. In some cases such travel and attendance is strongly suggested by ASPE National Society.

SYMPOSIUMS:

It is highly encouraged by ASPE National Society that the Chapter President and V.P. Technical attend this event. Our policy is for The Board to select the Chapter President and V.P. Technical attend this event and to reimburse these individuals for certain cost associated with attending the Symposium as enumerated in the reimbursement guidelines included in this document. In the event the President or V.P. Tech cannot attend, other officers & directors will be offered first right of refusal to attend based on the pecking order of President-VP Tech-VP Legislative-VP Membership-Treasurer-Admin Secretary-Corresponding Secretary. A total of two (2) attendees shall be recommended for reimbursement of authorized costs.

CONVENTIONS:

ASPE National Society Bylaws dictate who and how many delegates are eligible to attend, based on total membership at the time of convention on the last day of the fiscal year, June 30, to represent and vote on behalf of each local Chapter. Our policy is for The Board to select the Chapter President as our Chapter representative delegate. Additional delegates as authorized in ASPE National Society by-laws shall be selected based on the pecking order of VP Technical-VP Legislative-VP Membership-Treasurer-Admin Secretary-Corresponding Secretary-other eligible members in good standing. The total of attendees recommended for reimbursement of authorized costs shall be the number of delegates authorized to participate by ASPE National Society

BUSINESS MEETINGS: From time to time certain meetings may be called by ASPE National Society or the Region 5 leadership requiring travel by the Chapter President and/or other officers & directors. A total of two (2) attendees shall be recommended for reimbursement of authorized costs. Those attending the annual regional Presidents meeting shall be as follows: In first year of term shall be the newly elected President and the immediate Past President, in all other years shall be the President and the Vice-President Technical. When the nature of The Business Meeting requires additional attendees, or the unavailability of a designated officer, the Board may select a replacement or additional personnel to attend based on the pecking order of VP Technical-VP Legislative-VP Membership-Treasurer-Admin Secretary-Corresponding Secretary-other eligible members in good standing

TRAVEL EXPENSES

ELIGIBLE FOR REIMBURSEMENT

I. GENERAL GUIDELINES:

All ASPE St. Louis Chapter travel expenses must be directly related to the requirements of the representative* involved and enables the representative to accomplish the duties involved in such travel. It is appropriate that the representative be reimbursed for all reasonable and necessary travel expenses incurred and properly documented within the boundaries of available funds.

Certain travel expenses are identified below as allowable for ASPE St. Louis Chapter reimbursement of educational trips.

For business duty and educational travel, a distinction must be made between “local travel” and “out-of-town travel.” These definitions are provided by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations for taxable fringe benefits, namely per diem payments. The ASPE St. Louis Chapter applies these regulations to its policies regarding reimbursements for all travel. The IRS allows for the payment of non-taxable fringe benefits if “duties require them to be away from the general area of home substantially longer than an ordinary day’s work, and sleep or rest is needed to needed to meet the demands of the work while away from home. Merely napping in the car does not satisfy the rest requirement.”

Local travel refers to all trips in which the representative completes the travel in one day. Therefore, a representative may travel to Chicago in an airplane; it is local travel if the representative returns home in the same day.

Out-of-town travel refers to all trips that require the representative be away from home overnight.

II. APPROVAL OF TRAVEL:

All local and out-of-town travel must be approved by the Board of Directors. This policy applies to travel involving a reimbursement to the representative by the ASPE St. Louis Chapter,

If the representative receives some type of payment from an outside agency for services performed as part of the local travel (such as an honorarium for speaking at a conference), the representative must reduce his reimbursement request to the ASPE St. Louis Chapter by that amount.. Under no circumstances is it permissible for an ASPE St. Louis Chapter representative to receive payment from an outside entity for services performed during ASPE St. Louis Chapter reimbursed time.
All reimbursed expenses must be supported by receipts or other documentation.

III. DURATION OF OUT OF AREA STAY AND ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE:

No representative shall be paid for accommodations or travel per diem that extends beyond the duration of the event in question plus reasonable travel time appropriate to the mode of transportation being used. The day before, & the day after the event, shall be allowed for per diem and travel reimbursement. The last scheduled day of the event is the last day that includes scheduled functions.

V. LODGING REIMBURSEMENT:

A representative may be reimbursed for the cost of his or her room accommodations during the above defined duration of out-of-area stay subject to the following limitations:

  1. The reimbursement may never exceed the actual out-of-pocket cost to the representative. The representative may not stay with relatives or friends and still be reimbursed for lodging.

  2. To be reimbursed to the representative, the representative must present an itemized statement along with proof of payment (such as a credit card receipt or hotel invoice showing a zero balance). There will be no exceptions to this policy. No incidental charges on the statement will be reimbursed unless they represent expenses allowable under this policy and a detailed description of the charges is provided by the representative.

  3. Lodging must be arranged at the conference site hotel arranged for use by the conference. If accommodations are unavailable at this location, lodging must be obtained at a comparable hotel with an equal or lesser cost.

VI. TRAVEL PER DIEM:

According to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations for non-taxable fringe benefits, per diem reimbursement will only be provided when representatives are traveling away from home if: “1) your duties require you to be away from the general area of your home substantially longer than an ordinary day's work, and 2) you need to sleep or rest to meet the demands of your work while away from home. Once these criteria have been satisfied, per diem will be authorized as summarized below.

A travel per Diem, based on the city the event is being held, at the rate established by the IRS (http://gsa.gov/portal/content/104877 then click on box on page titled “Per Diem Rates all in one file”. Authorized representatives shall be paid one-half of the daily per diem amount for the day they leave if they leave work or home for the trip after 1:00 p.m. or for the day that they return to work or home from a trip if they return prior to 5:00 p.m.

If ASPE St. Louis Chapter is paying for any of the representative's meals as part of the registration fee or overall package for the trip, as indicated in brochures or other written descriptions of the trip itinerary, a deduction shall be made in the daily travel per diem request. For each meal included in the trip package, the travel per diem for the day of the meal shall be reduced by twenty-five percent. Meals to be included in this per diem reduction will include banquets identified in written descriptions relating to the trip schedule, but will not include airline meals, receptions, or continental breakfasts. The representative must specify in the request for reimbursement the number of meals, if any, included in the trip package. Representatives shall collect or submit receipts to justify meal expenses.

VII. TRANSPORTATION COSTS:

  1. If transportation is by air, train, bus, metro-link, or other public carrier, The ASPE St. Louis Chapter will reimburse the representative for out-of-pocket expenditures when properly documented. The representative may not be paid for air fare and choose to drive instead or surrender a ticket for refund and drive. These costs may be advanced to the representative upon approval of the Board.

  2. If taxi service, shuttle other public transportation is utilized for transportation to and from the airport; these costs will be reimbursed, including gratuities, with supporting receipts, as approved by the Board. If an alternate means of travel, (Uber for example), is needed the average cost of taxi or shuttle will not be exceeded.

  3. If long-term airport parking is necessary, reimbursement will be provided with proper receipts. Additional expenses for valet parking are not reimbursable.

  4. If transportation is by personal vehicle, the amount to be reimbursed (including any additional lodging, parking the personal vehicle, and per diem costs due to the length of travel) shall be covered. The reimbursement rate per mile driven will be the current mileage reimbursement rate as approved by the IRS for mileage reimbursement.

  5. Transportation after arrival in the city of destination is reimbursable only on a limited basis. Reimbursable expenses include only items such as ground transportation from the airport, train, or bus station to and from the lodging site; parking fees; and toll fees associated with auto rental or personal car travel if a representative’s personal vehicle was driven to the destination conference/training site, ASPE St. Louis Chapter will not pay for travel around the city during the representative's stay.

VIII. REGISTRATION

Registration Fee: 100% reimbursed, based on early registration rate, unless notification of authorized attendance at an event is after the date for early registration.

IX. OTHER EXPENSES:

To be reimbursed, miscellaneous travel costs not mentioned in these guidelines must be necessary to fulfill the tasks assigned or to participate in an educational event. St. Louis ASPE St. Louis Chapter will reimburse representatives for the payments of the following:

  1. Reasonable gratuities.

  2. Wi-Fi access in lodging room (maximum $30.00 per day)

X. TRAVEL ADVANCES:

Advances against anticipated travel expenses will not be made unless these expenses exceed $100.

XI. TRAVELING WITH OTHERS:

Representatives, who travel with their spouses or others, unless they are officers or others authorized by The Board to participate in the event as a representative, cannot claim any expense incurred by the other persons. Additional transportation and lodging charges for the other persons, if included in the receipts, must be identified and deducted from the receipts.