The University will not reimburse for mileage within a 25-mile radius of the University. Reimbursement rates are set in the current Appropriation Act. At present the rates for the first 15,000 miles of use each fiscal year are:

• $.585/mile when a personally-owned vehicle is cost justified and/or a State-owned vehicle is not available.

• $.246/mile when use of a personally-owned vehicle is elected for the convenience of the employee.

Reimbursement rates are reduced to $.13/mile for travel in excess of 15,000 miles in one fiscal year.

Mileage between the employee residence and base point incurred on a scheduled workday is considered commuting mileage. Commuting mileage and other commuting costs incurred on normal workdays are considered a personal expense and are not reimbursable. Total commuting distance is measured as the mileage from an employee’s residence to base point and return.

The state's Department of General Services, Office of Fleet Management Services (OFMS), maintains a contract with Enterprise Leasing to provide vehicles for short term travel by state employees.

At least 24 hours prior to the date of travel, the traveler must visit the OFMS website (opens in new window) and use the trip calculator (opens in new window) to calculate the vehicle cost for their proposed trip.  The cost should be used in the agency's cost beneficial analysis as required in the following section. 

Agencies must conduct a cost/benefit analysis to determine whether a State-owned/OFMS rental, or a personally-owned vehicle is best used in official State travel.  It is expected that a good faith effort will be made to use the Enterprise Rental contract when practical.  (See Short Term Travel - Rental Car Contract)  Generally, a personal vehicle is considered cost beneficial under the following circumstances:

• When occasional travel is planned for distances up to 100 miles per day.  This distance may vary for agency-owned or operated fleets.  For overnight travel, consider the average daily mileage over the period the State vehicle would otherwise be needed.

• For constant daily routine travel (agencies should consider the cost effectiveness of an emergency fleet).

• When an emergency exists and it is approved by the agency head or designee.

For all other circumstances, the OFMS TRIP CALCULATOR (See Short Term Travel - Rental Car Contract) should be used routinely to obtain the Enterprise vehicle cost for the cost benefit analysis. 

Examples of other factors that can be considered in the cost benefit analysis are:

• Distance to the nearest Enterprise location and the hours of operation
• Administrative time required to obtain the Enterprise rental car
• The type of vehicle required and the number of travelers

The agency head or designee is authorized to approve the IRS rate in lieu of the Enterprise contract when a personally owned vehicle is deemed to be cost beneficial to the agency.  This justification and approval must be documented and attached to the Travel Reimbursement Voucher.

All vehicle reservations must be made at least 24 hours in advance of the anticipated pickup of the vehicle.

Rental of vehicles which exceed 30 days must have prior approval of the Office of Fleet Management Services.

Reimbursement of car rental expenses is limited to official business use only.  Car rentals may be made through commercial rental agencies.  The traveler must select the most economical contractor and type of vehicle available, and acquire any commercial rate or government discount available when the vehicle is rented.  When possible, rentals should be arranged through a travel agency that has contracted with the Commonwealth to perform such services.

In most cases, rental vehicles would only be necessary after reaching the destination of travel.  However, for travel initiated from the traveler's base point, the traveler may conduct a cost/benefit analysis to determine if it is beneficial for the State to use a rental car in lieu of a personal vehicle for the planned trip.  The cost/benefit analysis should consider the cost of the rental car, any surcharges, and the cost of fuel for operating the rental vehicle.  If this analysis, demonstrates that it is cost effective to obtain the rental car and agency permits, a rental car may be used, and the analysis must be attached to the Travel Expense Reimbursement Voucher.

The option to purchase insurance offered by rental car contractors depends upon the following circumstances:

• Rental Car
• Plane
• Train
• Bus
• Taxi or Shuttle and other "for hire transportation"

Public transportation rates must not exceed those for tourist or coach class accommodations. Receipts for such expenses must be retained for submission with the travel voucher. Because of the liquidity of air and rail tickets, any unused portions must be returned to the agency for credit. Each agency should have a written policy and assigned responsibility for obtaining and controlling airline and rail tickets, particularly any unused portions.

Charges for changes to tickets/reservations to accommodate personal comfort, convenience and taste are NOT reimbursable. Change fees must be explained on the Travel Expense Reimbursement Voucher.

For taxis, shuttle vans and other forms of "for hire transportation", receipts are required only if the reimbursement claim exceeds $10. Additionally, a reason should be identified on the voucher for the necessity of the "for hire transportation." On a day trip where no per diem is reimbursed, a maximum of 15% of the taxi cab or shuttle service fare is reimbursable as a tip. For reimbursement, the Travel Expense Reimbursement Voucher must be divided into one amount for the fare and one amount for the tip. Receipts are not required for the tip reimbursement.

Public transportation from place of lodging to restaurants is allowed only for official business needs.

Agencies and institutions have three options available for the purchase of air and rail tickets:

• MasterCard Travel Card
• Small Purchase Charge Card (SPCC)
• Personal Credit Card

Direct billing by travel agencies for the purchase of airline tickets is not allowed.

Airline or rail travel cannot exceed the rates charged for tourist/coach fare. Reimbursement for first class air or rail travel is prohibited.

Note: Boarding passes are required for all air and rail reimbursements made directly to the employee.