CAIRO — Grady County employees will soon be subject to a new travel and expense policy the county board of commissioners adopted Tuesday.

The new policy is applicable to all county-funded travelers and budgeted county government entities.

County Administrator Buddy Johnson said the county, which had no travel policy prior to Tuesday, will now have a more structured system in place.

“It’s kind of been for lack of a better term willy-nilly over the years,” Johnson said at the meeting. “We want to break that down.”

Johnson said part of the reason why he wanted a travel policy was because other counties in the region already had systems in place.

The commissioners unanimously voted the adopt the policy.

In an effort to streamline county-funded travel, the executive assistant to the county administrator will serve as travel agent for the county and be responsible for booking all arrangements.

“We don’t have this group making it and then this group making it and then the bills come in and we don’t know where they came from and we spend two days trying to find out who went where,” Johnson said. “This allows us the opportunity to keep it streamlined and know where everyone’s going and know where our money is spent.”

Traveling county employees will stay at the cheapest lodging locations available that meet a AAA standard rating of two stars or above, barring a justifiable reason for staying elsewhere.

“We’re not trying to book people into roach motels,” Johnson said. “That’s not what this is about, we’ve got to take care of our employees. But we’re also not here to put them in the Ritz-Carlton, either.”

All air travel will be required to utilize lowest fare routing. Business and first class air travel is not allowed unless it is at the traveler’s expense.

Car rentals are generally discouraged with the exception of locations were local transportation is more expensive or not practical.

County-funded travelers using their personal vehicles will be reimbursed at a rate of $0.575 per mile.

Meal budgets of $12 for breakfast, $15 for lunch and $23 for dinner, tips included, will be provided for full days of travel. 

An earlier draft of the policy originally applied federal per diem rates, which Johnson said were too confusing for the streamlined system he wanted to set in place.

“We did a little research and looked into it and determined that $50 per day is a decent per diem,” Johnson said.

On the initial and final day of travel, 75 percent of the meal budget will be provided. Tips above 20 percent will not be reimbursed.

Expenditures such as snacks and alcoholic beverages are not reimbursable by the county.

Exemptions are provided for “unusual expenses” outside the guidelines of the policy, though county-funded travelers are encouraged to “use good judgment when incurring business expenses.”

Johnson told the commissioners in December a new spending policy may be needed to reduce travel and per diem expenditures.

The policy will fully go into effect 30 days after the date of approval, though Johnson said elements of the new system were already being followed across county agencies.