County commissioners boost travel funding

When county commissioners travel from now one, they can count on being well-fed.

At a special meeting Jan. 18, county commissioners voted unanimously to nearly double their per diem meal rate for out-of-state travel, increasing it 92 percent to $75 daily.

They also increased the per diem reimbursement for in-state travel by 41 percent, to $55.

With these changes, all Franklin County employees will now receive one of the state’s highest per diem allowances for meals and incidental expenses.

Most Florida counties allow a $36 per diem for meals, based on $6 for breakfast; $11 for lunch and $19 for dinner. Some counties, including Leon and other large municipalities, provide a per diem based on the federal government’s General Services Administration rate, which is the amount reimbursable for traveling federal employees. This rate varies by location and season of travel, and allows a per diem ranging from $46 to $71.

The high-end allowance is for tourist destinations during high season, such as Aspen, Colorado during the winter. San Francisco, New York City and Washington D. C. also have daily meal allowances of $71 under these rules.

Since 2006, county employees received a $39 per day allowance for meals, based on $7 for breakfast, $12 for lunch and $20 for dinner. This was already higher than the amount received by employees of most Panhandle counties. Notable exceptions are Gulf County where traveling employees are allowed $50 for meals, and Washington County where each commissioner can claim $600 monthly for travel with no receipts required.

According to county rules, county employees can be reimbursed for breakfast if travel begins before 7 a.m. and extends beyond 8 a.m.; for lunch if travel begins before noon and extends beyond 2 p.m.; and for dinner if travel begins before 5 p.m. and extends beyond 7 p.m.

The commissioners did not specify a breakdown for reimbursement by meals under the new scale.

Under the county resolution, the total cost of lodging and transportation are reimbursable with receipts. Reimbursement for mileage floats with the rate approved by the Internal Revenue Service. All travel must be preapproved by the Franklin County Commission.

Traveling county employees can request their per diem in advance of travel and are not required to produce receipts for their meals, according to the county finance department.

“You can’t run down the road and find a McDonalds”

Commissioners made the decision to increase the per diem at a special meeting Jan. 18 to open proposals for several projects relating to the Apalachicola Regional Airport. After opening the bids, commissioners instructed Airport Committee Chairman Ted Mosteller to return Feb. 21 with the committee’s recommendations.

The subject of the per diem was then raised by Commissioner Smokey Parrish at the meeting, which was attended by Mosteller, Deputy Clerk Michael Moron, County Attorney Michael Shuler and Director of Administrative Services Alan Pierce.

Clerk of Court Marcia Johnson said following the meeting that she was aware Parrish was contemplating a change in the per diem because he had asked for information about the county’s existing resolution on travel reimbursement prior to the board’s regular meeting Jan. 17.

 “I’ve got one little item I’d like to bring into the meeting and that is the out-of-state per diem. You can’t go out of state and eat for $35 a day,” Parrish said in introducing the subject at the Jan. 18 special meeting “When you fly to Seattle or Washington, I don’t rent a car so you can’t run down the road and find a McDonalds or something.”

Parrish is traveling to Washington D.C. on Feb. 4 to attend a national meeting of the Gulf Oyster Industry Council. He will also lobby for Franklin County in support of the Restore Act, which, if passed, will bring $50 million in BP funds to the county.

Parrish told his fellow commissioners that county workers traveling by air do not usually rent cars and must eat their meals in the hotel where they are staying. He said that the increase in per diem would be offset by a decrease in taxi fare and car rental costs paid to allow travelers to access less expensive food.

“Usually you eat at the motel you’re at, and it’s a lot more expensive,” he said. “You can eat breakfast and dinner for $35, but then you got to pay for supper out of your pocket.

“In state is not a problem because you usually got your car and you can go to McDonalds or you can go to Cracker Barrel. You can make due,” he said,. “Out of state you cannot eat on $35 day.”

Chairman Pinki Jackel concurred with Parrish. “We can make our policy like we want it, correct?” she asked Shuler.

Shuler said the board could change the per diem by resolution. “The state statute is $39 on the per diem,” he told Jackel, stressing that any change in per diem must apply any county employee who travels.

“It has to be an across-the-board resolution for everyone,” he said. “That’s the only limiting factor that the statute refers to.”

Jackel noted that “ we don’t have that many people that travel out of state. I mean the commissioners travel.”

Parrish said he had been paying out of pocket for meals when traveling out of state.

Commissioner Noah Lockley asked Parrish what he believed would be a reasonable reimbursement, and Parrish replied that “I’m going to leave that to the pleasure of the board.”

Jackel suggested $55.

Commissioner Bevin Putnal asked, “Will that cover it?”

Parrish responded, “It’s better than $35.”

Jackel said that “Maybe it needs to be $75 because you can’t hardly eat breakfast in a hotel. It’s about 20 bucks.”

Parrish reiterated that the hike in per diem would mean lower overall costs. “You can rent a car or a taxi and the county’s going to pay more,” he said. “Then you pay $20 to go eat a $10 hamburger. Then you’ve got to get back from there back to the hotel. That’s another $20. You have to pay to park the car.”

Lockley moved they increase the out-of-state per diem to $75.

 “I really think in-state needs to be raised up some,” Jackel said. “I think that’s too cheap too. I think the state needs to be moved to $55 or do you want to make them the same? You’re still in a hotel.”

Parrish replied that “I think we can get by in state.”

Travel budgets grow over last five years

Over the last five years, the amount commissioners spent on travel has more than doubled, from a low of $8,800 in the 2007-08 fiscal year to a high of nearly $23,000 in the last fiscal year, when much of the travel was related to the BP oil spill and its aftermath.

The amount spent on commissioners’ travel has grown while the overall budget declined as commissioners called for fiscal restraint.

The budget line item reached $18,000 in 2010-11 and that year, commissioners exceeded their travel budget by a little under $5,000.

During the 2010-11 fiscal year, Parrish spent $6,500 on travel, and Jackel nearly $5,200. Commissioners Sanders spent nearly $5,000 and Lockley spent $2,700. Commissioner Bevin Putnal did not travel during the 2010-11 fiscal year and incurred no expenses.

Other road warriors within the county government are Emergency Management with $7,500 budgeted for travel in 2011-12 and Veteran’s Services with $8,500 budgeted. Both departments are required to attend numerous training events.

In planning for the 2011-12 fiscal year, commissioners increased their travel budget by about 40 percent to $25,000, while instructing county departments to practice austerity and to keep costs down, the. Nearly $8,000 of that travel budget had been spent as of Dec. 31, about three months into the fiscal year.

The Jan. 18 special meeting was scheduled because the deadline for receipt of proposals for two airport projects was inadvertently scheduled for a holiday with no mail delivery. County commissioners did not open the proposals at the regular Tuesday, Jan. 17 meeting, allowing an extra day for all proposals to be delivered. After commissioners expressed concern over an extended delay in a decision on prospective bidders, they scheduled the special meeting for bid opening for the next day, Wednesday morning. at 9 a.m.