County tightens expense reimbursement

KANKAKEE – In an effort to combat any misinterpretations for county employees on submitting expense reports, Kankakee County Auditor Colton Ekhoff updated the policy manual for travel/expense reimbursement.

Ekhoff said at Wednesday’s Kankakee County Board Executive Committee meeting that one employee filed an expense report for travel for an event that was more than 200 days ago while another tried to get reimbursement for an $80 meal.

“The updated policy gives a clear requirement that reimbursement claims must be submitted within 30 days of travel,” he said. “The previous policy had no time frame. With the standardized meal reimbursement, [those] will still follow the Government Service Administration, GSA, per the per diem guidelines, which would also provide a standardized and location-based meal rates.”

Ekhoff said meal reimbursement usually does not exceed $25. He said that the new policy also addresses a broad range of reimbursable expenses, many of which that are not clearly defined under the previous policy.

“This ensures the consistency and the fairness across all claims,” he said. “... This improves the clarity and ensures that staff knows what’s eligible and what’s not eligible.”

Ekhoff explained that the travel expense that was 200 days old fell under the previous fiscal year, which is problematic in keeping within the annual budget.

“This will only strengthen and help everyone understand what is an allowable reimbursement,” he said.

County board Chairman Matthew Alexander-Hildebrand applauded the updated policy.

“When I heard there was a claim that was 200 days out, I knew that we had to look at it, because that’s just unacceptable,” he said. “I mean there has to be some timeline, some guidance for our employees.”

The Executive Committee approved the resolution on the updated policy “that recognizes the importance of establishing clear and consistent policies regarding expense and travel reimbursement for county employees and officials.”

The measure will go to the county board for final approval at its June 10 meeting.

Approximately 5% of county employees submit monthly expense reports. The majority of those reports are from the state’s attorney office and the sheriff’s department, Ekhoff said.

Both departments have employees who frequently travel for their jobs.

“I had a conversation with both of those department heads, made sure that they were aware of these changes, and gave it to both of them,” said Ekhoff, who added both Jim Rowe and Mike Downey were OK with the changes.