Commission discusses proposed per diem policy

The Covington County Commission continued discussion of the county’s travel reimbursement policy at a regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, July 23.

Commission Chairman Greg White said there is a need to update the travel reimbursement policy to a per diem policy for all county employees. Prior to Tuesday’s meeting, a proposal was made and presented to all four commissioners and department heads within the county.

“The attempt has been made to tie the policy directly to the IRS reimbursement rules so that as rates change by the IRS, we don’t have to re-write the policy. We automatically just follow what the published rates are,” White said.

One of the issues that arose concern in years past was an employee traveling out of the county at a specified time of the day. According to White, previously, the county reimbursed for exact expenses only outside of the county’s boundaries. Recent discussions were made and addressed to shift to a per diem policy.

“Let’s say someone leaves the office at 1 p.m. for a trip. How do you reimburse them? Do they get a full per diem for that partial day or not? By moving to a per diem policy, it is less bookwork and paper work. The policy originally said we would reimburse all expenses, but the per diem seems to be a way to control costs and treat everybody fairly to make the accounting aspect easier,” he said.

Covington County EMA Director Susan Harris said she felt the county should maintain its current travel reimbursement policy rather than revert to a per diem policy. Currently, meals are not reimbursed if a county employee travels less than the six-hour minimum.

“If I have to go to Evergreen for a safety training, I have to pay for my lunch because it is not six hours. I don’t think that’s fair. If I’m doing county business outside of this county, the county should pay for my lunch there,” Harris said.

Covington Area Transit Service (CATS) Director Tami Baxley said there is some confusion with the matter.

“When we are trying to do paperwork and turn it in, nobody else has to do anything. We want to be right on with what we do and need more verification. It might be worth a meeting to discuss this matter further where everyone is on the same page,” Baxley said.

Following discussion from additional department heads present at the meeting, action was deferred until the next meeting.

In other business:

• The commission approved the appointment of Sara Williams to serve on the South Crenshaw County Water Authority Board. Williams will complete an unexpired term.
• The commission approved the awarding of a sandstone gravel bid to Stacey Construction of Monroeville. The bid was the only one made for the project.
• The commission adopted resolutions for bridge projects on three county roads through the Federal Lands Access Program (FLAP). Those bridges are at Conecuh River Church Road, Hogfoot Road, and George Lundy Road.
• The commission approved Dist. 4 commissioner Tommy McGaha to serve a 1-year term on the Association of County Commissions of Alabama legislative committee.
• The commission approved the requesting of bids for signalization (blinker signs) in the County Engineer’s department.

The next meeting of the Covington County Commission will be held Tuesday, August 13, at 9 a.m., at the Covington County Administration Building. The public is invited to attend.

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