Okaloosa County BOCC — April 27, 2013 — O&P Manual with Appendix Forms (3-19) — reading text

Class A Travel - Continuous travel of 24 hours or more away from official headquarters. Class B Travel - Continuous travel of less than 24 hours which involves overnight absence from official headquarters. Class C Travel - Travel for short or day trips where the traveler is not away from official headquarters overnight. 13  Official Headquarters - The official headquarters of an officer or employee assigned to an office shall be the city or town in which, or nearest to which, the office is located. Travel Expenses - Usual, ordinary, and incidental expenditures that are necessarily incurred by a traveler. Traveler - A public official, public employee, or authorized person when performing travel. County Travel and County Expenses – Travel undertaken and/or expenses incurred by Travelers in context of usual business travel for purposes of staff development/professional education, meetings of purely professional affiliations, management of planning and construction of Product Improvement projects, staff retreats and other Manager-mandated staff Class A-C travel. Reimbursement for this travel and these expenses is governed by Section 112.061, Florida Statutes and Section C.450 of this Manual. Promotional Travel and Promotional Expenses – Travel undertaken and/or expenses incurred by Travelers in context of advertising and promotional activities carried out pursuant to the Tourist Development Plan and annual promotional and advertising plan as approved pursuant to Section C.430 of this Manual. Reimbursement of these expenses will be subject to the limitations provided in Section 125.0104(9), Florida Statutes, and Section C.500 of this Manual. C.430 APPROVAL OF TRAVEL EXPENSES All TDC members and TDD employees must have prior approval for travel and approval after-the-fact for actual travel expenses. 1) Tourist Development Department staff must receive prior approval of the Director. 2) The Director must receive prior approval of the County Administrator. 3) TDC members must receive prior approval of the BCC. 4) All foreign travel must receive prior approval of the BCC. 14 C.440 TRAVEL FORMS Official forms shall be used for travel approval and travel expense reimbursement: 1) Daily Travel Log - This form is used only to obtain reimbursement for mileage incurred in use of a personal vehicle in local travel. 2) Voucher for Reimbursement for Travel Expenses - This form is used to account for travel advances and obtain reimbursement for all local mileage. 3) Travel Requests a. Obtain advance approval for travel. b. Request payment for registration for conference and conventions in advance of the actual event or as authorized under County Procedures and by Section 112.061(12), Florida Statutes, which governs authorization advances for anticipated travel costs. C.450 REIMBURSABLE OUT-OF-COUNTY TRAVEL AND EXPENSES Reimbursement is permitted for approved County Travel and Expenses incurred each day in conducting bona fide County tourism business, in accordance with County, State and Federal procedures. No one shall be reimbursed for any meal or lodging that is included in a convention, conference registration fee, or airline ticket. 1) Airline fare (at the lowest fare available) or other commercial carrier fare (ticket stub required to be attached to reimbursement request). 2) Any meal included in the fare must be deducted from the per diem reimbursement at the applicable rate. The approved traveler's copy of all ticket invoices shall be submitted as receipts. 3) Taxi, limousine, rental car (attach receipts). 4) Road tolls and parking fees (attach receipts). 5) Registration fees, however, and any meals and lodging included will be deducted in accordance with allowances provided in this policy. If available, an agenda or program schedule, along with a receipt, must be attached when requesting reimbursement. 15  6) Mileage as determined by the County (this amount may change due to Federal Standards dealing with the oil pricing Worldwide), when using personal vehicle. Mileage should be computed from the post of duty to the point of destination. Whenever possible, the mileage computation should be based on current DOT Map Mileage Chart. 7) Vicinity mileage will be paid when an employee, after having reached such employee's original destination, is required to travel within the County or other locations on official business. 8) All gifts, certificates, coupons, et cetera, received in conjunction with travel are to be turned over to the Tourist Development Department for further handling. In all cases, travel will be by the most economical means taking into account the employee's time involved and distances. If an employee, for such employee's own convenience, travels by auto which would result in more travel reimbursement than had such employee travelled by commercial means, reimbursement shall be limited to the amount had such employee traveled via commercial transportation. C.500 REIMBURSABLE PROMOTIONAL TRAVEL AND EXPENSES The Tourist Development Department is authorized and empowered to: 1) Provide, arrange, and make expenditures for transportation, lodging, meals, and other reasonable and necessary items and services for Tourist Development Department employees and other authorized persons, in accordance with Section C.430 of this Manual, in connection with performance of promotional, marketing, and advertising duties. 2) Entertainment expenses shall be authorized only when meeting with travel writers, tour brokers, or other persons connected with the tourist industry. All travel and entertainment related expenditures made pursuant to this paragraph shall be substantiated by paid receipts. Complete and detailed justification for all travel and entertainment related expenditures made pursuant to this paragraph shall be shown on the Travel Expense Voucher and attached to same. 3) Transportation and other incidental expenses other than those provided in Section C.400 of this Manual shall only be authorized for the Director and designated employees of the Tourist Development Department; and other authorized persons - travel writers, tour brokers, or other persons connected with the tourist industry - when traveling pursuant to paragraph 16  5 below. All other transportation and incidental expenses pursuant to this paragraph shall be as provided in Section C.400 of this Manual. 4) Pay by reimbursement only, except as specifically authorized by the County, through the Tourist Development Department, the costs of per diem and incidental expenses of the Director and employees of the Tourist Development Department , and other authorized persons for foreign travel at the current rates as specified in the federal publication, "Standardized Regulations (Government, Civilian, Foreign Areas)." The provisions of this paragraph shall apply for the Director or other designated employee of the Tourist Development Department, traveling in foreign countries for the purposes of promoting tourism and travel to the County, if such travel expenses are approved and certified by the BCC. As used in this paragraph, the term, "authorized person," shall have the same meaning as provided in Section C.420, entitled, "Authorized Travel" means all travel outside the United States. Person(s) traveling in foreign countries pursuant to this paragraph shall be entitled to reimbursement or advancement pursuant to Section C.450 (1) of this manual. 5) Pay by reimbursement only, except as specifically authorized by the County, through the Tourist Development Department, the actual reasonable and necessary costs of travel, meals, lodging, and incidental expenses of the Director and designated employees of the Tourist Development Department , and other authorized persons when meeting with travel writers, tour brokers, or other persons connected with the tourist industry, and while attending or traveling in connection with travel or trade shows. With the exception of provisions concerning rates of payment, the provisions of Section C.400 of this manual are applicable to the travel described in this paragraph. D.000 TOURIST DEVELOPMENT PLAN AND BUDGET D.100 TOURIST DEVELOPMENT PLAN ADOPTION 1) The Director shall present a recommended Tourist Development Plan to the TDC. 2) The TDC shall recommend to the BCC any proposed changes to the Tourist Development Plan as necessary. 3) Pursuant to Section 125.0104(4)(d), Florida Statutes, the County has adopted a Tourist Development Plan by ordinance enacted by the BCC. The Tourist Development Plan may not be substantially amended except 17  by ordinance enacted by an affirmative vote of a majority plus one additional member of the BCC. D.200 BUDGET ADOPTION 1) Budget Process – a. Initial Draft Budget - The Director is responsible for compiling the initial draft of the proposed annual budget for presentation to the TDC prior to the date for submission of the annual budget proposal to the BCC. This draft shall contain, at a minimum, the following items: i. Estimates of projected tax revenues for the budget period. ii. Budget information for all capital projects recommended by the TDC for the budget year. iii. Detailed line items for all proposed expense categories. iv. Recommendations on staff positions and salary b. TDC Review – The TDC is responsible for conducting at least one public meeting each year on the proposed budget recommended by the Director before transmitting its proposed budget to the County Administrator. c. BCC Review – The Director and/or the Chairman of the TDC will present the TDC's budget recommendations to the County Administrator who will utilize the recommendation in preparing the budget submission to the BCC during its budget review process. d. TDC Review of Final Budget - The Director will present the budget approved by the BCC to the TDC within a timely period of the final approval. The TDC shall review the approved budget to ensure conformity with the County Tourist Development Plan and the provisions of Section 125.0104, Florida Statutes. If the TDC has any objections to the approved budget, the objection(s) shall be