The City of Moose Jaw plans to update its 31-year-old travel expense policy so that city hall can better understand and administer the document when handling trip costs for staff and council.
During its Sept. 26 regular meeting, city council voted unanimously to adopt the amended travel expense policy, which was last updated in 1991 and required several changes to reflect current travel costs and methods.
“It’s about time we revised this document,” Mayor Clive Tolley chuckled.
Coun. Heather Eby agreed, saying, “I’m glad to see the next review (of the policy) is October 2025 and not October 2056. And I’m sure things will have changed by then as well.”
The Human Resources department submitted the motion after conducting a regular review of all its policies and discovering this one needed several amendments, a council report explained. The travel expense policy outlines the rules and procedures for reimbursing expenses acquired while travelling on municipal business.
The amendments fall into three categories: housekeeping, addressing identified gaps, and simplification, the report continued.
Housekeeping
Housekeeping amendments include correcting references to bylaws and operational guidelines; removing references to the city’s private use policy that is no longer in use; updating the amount paid for private accommodations; and updating terminology, such as changing city commissioner to city manager.
Gaps in policy
The HR department identified several gaps in the existing policy, the report said, including:
- There is no contemplation of virtual meeting options, given the dated nature of the policy
- The existing policy has a deadline for submissions of expenses but provides no means for city hall to enforce the deadline to ensure timeliness
- There is no maximum amount identified for parking expenses
- Clarity is required to obtain virtual insurance for rental cars and responsibility for any damage
Simplification
The policy has several existing detailed sections that cover topics such as excessive travel time, excursion rates, double occupancy and incentive programs, the report said. However, these are not required and are “very complex” for HR to understand and apply.
The HR department recommended replacing these sections with an overarching direction, such as outlining when travel is required or that the city will only cover expenses directly related to municipal business, the report continued. Within those guidelines, managers and directors would be responsible for approving and verifying costs.
Also, department heads must obtain approval from the city manager to have expenses covered in U.S. dollars for each claim when travelling to the United States. Adding this stipulation to the policy is expected to reduce the time and effort required to process these claims.
The practice of reimbursing in U.S. dollars is consistent with the practice of the provincial government.
The actual amounts reimbursed for any travel are governed by the out-of-town travel compensation operational guideline at city hall, the report added. City hall updates this document annually based on the provincial government’s set rates.
The next regular council meeting is Tuesday, Oct. 11.
