Mileage Reimbursement

[jdlessley]

There has been good information provided on how to determine the amount to use for the expense reimbursement for the use of a member's personal vehicle in their callings. Going back to the original issue posed by toddnielson -

I am a stake clerk. One of the ward clerks asked me how to go about reimbursing for mileage. The member didn't provide a receipt or anything...just total mileage driven for an activity.

I've hunted and hunted but can't find anything official on this. The bottom line seems to be that if the bishop approves the reimbursement (written up on a reimbursement form but without receipts), that is all that is needed.

- there is guidance regarding documentation required to be submitted with a reimbursement request. The following is an extract from the audit checklist for wards and branches, item 26. (Bold added for emphasis)

Every expenditure ... should have original receipts, invoices, or similar notices of amounts due or already paid. A check request document alone is not adequate. If an original receipt or invoice is lost, the substitute documentation should include a written explanation of the payment purpose, a statement or description of the goods or services acquired, the period the payment applies to ... and so on.

This information is also available in the on-line training,Handling Church Expenses.

For this situation the member submitting the request must either provide a receipt for the expense associated with using their personal vehicle or substitute documentation. As the instruction quoted above indicates it can be as simple as a a hand written note with all the necessary information provided. Part of that information is provided in this situation on the reimbursement request. How the member determines the cost can be any number of methods. The most common have already been discussed previously in this thread.

The question sometimes arrises when a member uses a mileage rate in their determination of the cost as to what is acceptable, or rather what would be excessive. A good measure is the mileage rate the Church uses in reimbursing bishops, branch presidents, stake and district presidents, and stake clerks for authorized mileage in performance of their duties submitted on the Travel and Long-Distance Telephone Reimbursement Request form. This rate varies from area to area as well as the date of the travel. You can find out what the current rate is by contacting your FM Group. The last time (earlier this year) I filed the form the rate was 45.5 cents per mile in my area.

[greggo]

A good measure is the mileage rate the Church uses in reimbursing bishops, branch presidents, stake and district presidents, and stake clerks for authorized mileage in performance of their duties submitted on the Travel and Long-Distance Telephone Reimbursement Request form. This rate varies from area to area as well as the date of the travel. You can find out what the current rate is by contacting your FM Group. The last time (earlier this year) I filed the form the rate was 45.5 cents per mile in my area.

Is this reimbursement form only valid for the leadership positions you describe? It certainly would have been good for my wife who was in the stake pri pres'y and had to travel to the far end of our large stake for a ward conference.

[jdlessley]

Is this reimbursement form only valid for the leadership positions you describe? It certainly would have been good for my wife who was in the stake pri pres'y and had to travel to the far end of our large stake for a ward conference.

I am not certain whether it is or isn't. What I provided was not from the form but rather from the on-line calalog. I do remember reading something very similar to that on the form. Additionally I do remember that there was a limit on the number of reimbursement requests that could be submitted from the stake in a year. Eight sounds familiar but I don't recall whether it was per person/calling or for the entire stake. The reimbursement does not come out of the stake budget but is reimbursed from Church HQ.

[lajackson]

Is this reimbursement form only valid for the leadership positions you describe? It certainly would have been good for my wife who was in the stake pri pres'y and had to travel to the far end of our large stake for a ward conference.

I am not certain whether it is or isn't. . . . I do remember that there was a limit on the number of reimbursement requests that could be submitted from the stake in a year. . . . The reimbursement does not come out of the stake budget but is reimbursed from Church HQ.

The Church will reimburse a stake for certain mileage for a few specific leaders up to a limit, and it is very limited. Many stake presidents and bishops do not request reimbursement, although some do. This happens most often in cases where leaders are expected to travel long distances to stake leadership meetings. The Church reimbursement policy is very restricted.

A stake president or a bishop will sometimes authorize budget funds to reimburse a member who incurs unusual expenses in a calling that would not be expected of most members.

As one personal example, when our ward took youth on temple trips, it was not cost effective to charter public transportation, but the expense for gas was still significant. When a member needed to be reimbursed, we did, especially when it meant that the leader had to choose between being able to attend and help with the youth or being able to eat dinner that evening. Any such reimbursement came out of the budget funds and was budgeted and planned for accordingly.

Some leaders never requested assistance, and donated their talents, including time and gas, to the cause. Other leaders were not in a position to do so. The bishop made sure they were still able to serve faithfully on official assignments, and quietly assisted where needed.