Kyle City Council votes to amend card policy, reimbursement

KYLE — Kyle City Council voted 6-0 at a special meeting on Aug. 3 to amend ordinance 1231, which discusses policies for the city credit card and reimbursement for council members.

The proposed changes presented by Rosie Truelove, director of administrative services, included a General Services Administration (GSA) governed per diem food allowance for travel, documentation requirements for receipts, as well as an “allowable travel expense” section.

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Per diem and documentation

Regarding the GSA per diem meals, Truelove presented examples within Texas of the meals per diem (breakfast, lunch and dinner) for each city, such as $69 if traveling to Houston and $64 if traveling to Midland. This per diem means that council should not use city-issued credit cards for food when traveling.

The ordinance already requires council members to provide the itemized receipt when using city-issued credit cards, but additional language was added: “The following notation shall be included on each receipt: city council member’s name and business justification of expense.”

“We haven’t added or changed any other section of the credit card policy except that to say when you are reconciling your expenses, that you need to include appropriate documentation,” said Truelove, who then clarified that this means each member needs to use their individual card, rather than providing a total bill on one card.

The city-issued credit card would still be used for airfare, lodging and transportation.

Council member Daniela Parsley brought forth concerns about the lack of specificity needed on the receipt. For example, she stated that someone could get coffee every day and charge the city credit card, citing “city business” when they are just checking their email.

“The recommendation was that if it’s a localized food and beverage receipt — if you purchase food and beverage for anyone other than yourself — that you have to write the name. If you’re meeting with someone else and spending taxpayer resources on them, you have to write down their name,” said Mayor Travis Mitchell. “It will make you think twice about how you go about your business.”

To prevent credit card abuse, there is currently a team that reviews receipts and if an expense is not deemed necessary, the cost is removed from the council member’s stipend.

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"Allowable travel expense"

“We were asked to add a section to speak to hotel rates and things of that nature. As we were reviewing the existing policy, we noticed that, while we have an extensive section of un-allowed expenses on credit cards, it was missing what we would consider a standard section of allowable expenses for travel,” said Truelove.

The allowable travel expenses include: lodging, meals, allowances, transportation and parking.

In regards to lodging, when available, “council members should select the host hotel or one that has partnered with the host agency for accommodation during travel.” Otherwise, council must seek reasonably priced hotel rooms, but this should not deter members from staying in the hotel that the event is being held at.

In response to council member Miguel Zuniga’s comment questioning hotel room prices, city manager Bryan Langley stated that he doesn’t “believe it's appropriate to put a specific dollar amount on the hotel, but council certainly could. But when you go to large cities and there’s large conferences in town, the room prices — what may be on one weekend or one Monday — may be $250 and that conference it may be $500 just because there’s more demand for it.”

Council member Michael Tobias requested council members document the reason for each trip and why they are attending, not only for transparency, but to also provide insight to those who may not be able to attend the trip.

“Overnight accommodation for conferences and training sessions and other meetings within Central Texas must be justified in writing and approved by the full council, but are generally not allowed within 50 miles of Kyle City Hall,” read the proposed language.

For meals, council members will be authorized a maximum per diem allowance for overnight travel. The rate given will be based on the previous GSA meal and incidental expense per diem amount. The language stated that “city credit cards shall not be used for meals when traveling on city business,” instead, council members will be allowed to request their per diem prior to the trip to cash or deposit into their personal bank accounts or can request the amount after the trip. Because it is through a per diem, receipts will not be required.  Although per diem is typically used for an entire day's expense, if there is a partial day of travel, the per diem will adhere to this. For example, Truelove explained that if a flight leaves at 5 p.m., the city will not be providing a per diem for breakfast that day.

“One thing that's important to know, if the city of Kyle is sending you to a conference and that conference includes a welcome lunch, then the designated amount for lunch on that day would be deducted from your per diem check. So, we’re not going to be asking the taxpayers to pay twice for a meal,” explained Truelove.

Finally, for ground transportation and parking, council members may claim expenses, but they must be documented with additional information, such as location details, time, etc.

Council voted 6-0 to pass the amendments, with the addition of a reconciliation sheet for each receipt. At the second reading and final reading on Aug. 6, council passed the item unanimously, 7-0.