District Reimbursement Form

(Click to enlarge)

Here is the Treasure Chest. This is travel reimbursement form that trustees complete in order to draw on their annual $7,000 travel and training allowance.

There must be a procedures manual that goes with it, but I did not request that.

At the top right is wording that directs the employee (or trustee) to fill it out after they return. Near the bottom an "approved Travel Request Form" is mentioned. In the body of the form a Travel Advance line is shown, along with a P-card line.

Already I can see that at least one trustee will find her mental powers and arithmetic skills heavily taxed to complete this form correctly.

How often have trustees requested money in advance for travel? Who has dipped in before traveling? Why?  How much has been requested? How much was advanced?

Somebody down in the bowels of the Accounting Department should be watching each trustee's spending. No funds should be advanced, if the trustee's total is pushed over $7,000. 

When the Reimbursement Form is submitted, that same "somebody" should first look to see if the amount requested will push the trustee's account over the $7,000 limit.

If it does, only the amount should be paid that will bring the total up to $7,000. The employee should be informed that no excess reimbursement will be made.

BUT in School Year 2021-2022 the Total for all trustees has already been exceeded, and at least one trustee has been told she won't be able to spend funds remaining in her own account. 

At the bottom of the form are lines for signatures of the Approving Supervisor and the Finance "Approver". Who are those Distreict employees who approve trustee spending? Why did they approve excess amounts for one or more trustees?

The form is deficit in that it does not ask the trustee (or employee) how much remains in her spending account before the trip? Each trustee should know where to look for that information. How much is left in the Pot of Gold?

Is the attitude of some of the trustees that it doesn't matter; it's just taxpayer money?

I am awaiting the District FOIA response with the individual totals already spent by each trustee. Then we'll know who blew through the top of her spending budget.