Travel 

Local Mileage

 UAF employees and volunteers sometimes use their personal vehicle to accomplish university business such as visiting local markets or stores for supplies, traveling to  alternative locations to instruct, or visiting other organizations in the community as a part of an outreach program. Local travel is defined as business travel occuring withing a 50 mile driving radius of one's home or duty station. In some cases, the university will reimburse the traveler for these trips. Read more about how to manage local travel below. 

 

Local mileage rates are set in accordance with the federal rates and are updated each calendar year. Mileage for commuting from home to primary duty station is not reimbursable per IRS guidelines. Mileage is intended to cover fuel, repairs, wear and tear, etc. for the person's vehicle while it is being used for university-related work.

1. Assign a Travel Authorization (TA) number to the employee’s local mileage for the fiscal year
a. Available TA numbers are issued to the department by the Office of Finance & Accounting (OFA)
b. Please assign:
i. One employee per TA number
ii. One TA number per fiscal year
c. A paper TA is not required for reimbursement, but departments can still use one for internal calculation, approval, or tracking purposes
2. Employees should record their odometer readings using the current [calendar] year’s Local Mileage Reimbursement (LMR) form
3. To receive reimbursement, submit the required documents to the campus travel office
a. A signed LMR
i. Must include information for all fields and required approvals
1. The employee’s supervisor must approve mileage reimbursed with unrestricted funding
2. The PI must approve mileage reimbursed with restricted funding
ii. If multiple LMRs are needed to capture all mileage documentation, submit a cover sheet LMR with the total number of miles, total amount of reimbursement, and funding allocation(s)
1. Enter “See attached” in the Mileage Details on the cover page
2. Recommend having the approver sign only the cover sheet instead each individual LMR
iii. Individually created or other accounting/finance forms cannot replace the LMR
b. If odometer readings are not available, an online mileage map (e.g. Google or MapQuest) of the route is required
c. Parking expenses are reimbursable via the LMR
i. Include the parking costs on the LMR
ii. Attach parking receipts (required for individual expenses of $75+)
4. The reimbursement is keyed as a direct pay using "T<number>A" (B, C, D, etc.) as the document number
a. Information entered in the funding field of the LMR is used to key the payment
b. Submitted documents are stored in OnBase under the TA number
 
If the department prefers to use encumbrances for budgeting purposes:
1. Encumber the funds once the TA is approved using document number “TA<number>”
2. When submitting the LMR:
a. Either on the LMR or clearly in the email, indicate if it is a partial or final payment from an encumbrance
b. If not indicated, the reimbursement is keyed as a final which closes the encumbrance
3. The TA number, fund, org, account code, and vendor ID on the LMR must match the corresponding information on the encumbrance
a. OFA cannot change these fields when keying the payment
b. If there are discrepancies between the encumbrance and LMR, OFA will hold the reimbursement request until those discrepancies are corrected by the department
c. Vendor field can remain blank on the encumbrance; OFA can enter a vendor ID if this field is blank