Replaces:
Date Issued: January
27, 1998
Revised: February
20th, 2008
Date Effective: February 20th, 2008
POLICY: The Enhanced 9-1-1 Authority Board shall follow a
standardized procedure for the disbursements of funds used for travel,
registration, and accommodations to national training conferences. The
Authority Board acknowledges the importance of national training and the
benefits provided to the 9-1-1 system by having well trained personnel.
PURPOSE: To provide all personnel with the necessary
understanding of how funding will be disbursed, who qualifies for funding, and
what conferences will be considered for funding.
PROCEDURE:
1. Qualifying Conferences:
A. National Emergency Number Association (NENA)
Conference
B. Association of Professional Communications Officers
(APCO) Conference
C. Navigator’s Dispatch Conference
D. ESRI National GIS Conference
E. Visicon CAD Conference
F. HITECH CAD CONFERENCE
2. Qualified Personnel for funding requests:
A. Authority Board Members
B. 9-1-1 System Manager
C. 9-1-1 EMD (Quality Improvement Coordinator)
D. Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) Managers
E. Q personnel from the PSAPs
F. 9-1-1 GIS Staff Member
G. Regional CAD Manager
H. Quality Assurance Analyst
I.
9-1-1 Public
Information Officer
3. Attendance by qualified personnel:
A. Each Authority Board Member may annually attend one
conference of their choice.
B. Authority Board shall require the System Manager to
attend three conferences each year from the list of qualified conferences.
C. PSAP Manager
may attend the conference of their choice. WITH RESPECT TO THE CAD COFERENCES, PSAP
MANAGER MAY ATTEND THE CONFERENCE OF THEIR CAD PROVIDER.
D. Q may attend the Navigator’s Conference.
E. Authority
shall provide attendance at five conferences for staff as determined
by the System Manager.
4. Substitution of Qualified Personnel and Qualifying
Conferences:
A. No substitutions shall be made to the list of Five qualifying conferences in
Section 1 unless approved by a majority vote of the Authority Board.
B. The following procedures apply to the substitution of
other personnel to use the conference funding:
i.
When illness or
other unforeseen circumstances prevent qualified personnel from attending a
qualified conference, it may be necessary to make alternate arrangements. This
measure may be taken to ensure that any funds that may have been committed or
expended are protected from waste due to missed attendance. The qualified
personnel will notify the System Manager of the situation. The determination of
who will attend under these situations is delegated to the officers of the
Board, of who two will decide the replacement personnel.
ii.
PSAP Manager may
substitute a person from their PSAP, if the PSAP Manager is unable to attend.
This substitution shall only be made to a person within the same PSAP, and then
only to a person who has an active responsibility within the communication’s
center.
iii.
Q
recertification is awarded every two years, hence the primary and secondary
should alternate years to continue to keep certification current.
iv. If a Q is not able to attend the medical conference the psap manager shall fill the
position with a protocol certified member of the communication’s staff.
5. Expenses Qualifying for Payment:
A. Conference Registration Fees- Actual fee for
qualified personnel. No payment will be made for any pre-conference seminar
unless that seminar is certification or recertification required by the
authority. All pre-conference classes should be approved by the system manager
prior to registration.
B. Transportation Charges- Airline charges reimbursed at
the actual amount; use of personal vehicles will be reimbursed at the current
government rate. Actual cost of travel between the hotel and the transportation
hub will be reimbursed.
C. Hotel Accommodations- Actual charges for days of the
conference and one day prior to the conference.
D. Per Diem- Per diem will be paid to anyone authorized
to travel under this policy.
E. Expenses directly related to the conference as
described above shall be paid when appropriate receipts are submitted.
6. Payment Procedure:
A. Payment will be made thirty (30) days after receipt
of documentation for qualified expenses is received at the System Manager’s
office.
B. Hand written receipts are not considered acceptable
documentation for payment.
C. Request for payment of mileage will be actual miles
driven in conjunction with the conference. The Authority will not pay mileage
for excursion trips made in conjunction with a conference.
D. Mileage for travel to and from the conference
location will be paid in an amount up to, but not more than the price of a
round trip coach/business class air line ticket from
7. General Procedures:
A. Registration and travel arrangements shall be made by
the personnel attending the national conference. The Authority expects
personnel to schedule air travel at least thirty (30) days prior to the
conference to obtain the best rates.
B. The Authority Board acknowledges that payment of
these funds is to assist personnel in receiving national training, however, the
Board further states that total payment of all expenses may not be made. The
Authority Board funding is to assist personnel in attending national
conferences.
C. Payment will be made to qualifying personnel only
when actual attendance at qualifying conference has been made.
D. All payment is subject to annual appropriations of
funding available for this line item, and such funding can be cancelled by a
vote of the Authority Board at any time. All qualifying personnel will be
notified immediately if funding is cancelled by the authority.
8. Per Diem:
A. IRS Per Diem rates will be paid on overnight travel
subject to travel having taken place and expense reimbursement been requested
from the El Paso – Teller Enhanced 9-1-1 Authority.
B. Internal Revenue Service Publication 1542 Per Diem
Rates can be found on the internet at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1542.pdf.
Use the chart entitled “maximum Federal Per Diem Rates” for the most current
year/time period. Use the column titled “M&IE” [meals and incidental
expenses] rate.
i.
Chart the amount
per day times the number of days will be the maximum amount allowed for the
M&IE allowed for the trip.
ii.
If the specific
city that your destination is not listed on the Per Diem, determine which
location on the list is closest proximity to the location of travel. If not Per
Diem rate is available for the location of travel, a maximum of $40.00 per day
will be allowed.
iii.
First and last
day of travel with be paid at a rate of 75% of the daily rate listed.
C. Once travel is completed, request for Per Diem
payment shall be made to the
i.
Payment will be
made to either the individual who traveled or their agency if the agency
provided the Per Diem in advance.