Travel costs are up for discussion as Victoria council looks at potential policy updates on expenses and how they’re disseminated.
The item is up for discussion on council’s June 5 committee meeting agenda.
A staff report on that agenda recommends removing the requirement for council to approve individual travel expenses for members and allocating $6,000 for “self-selected travel, education or training” to be increased relative to the consumer price index each year. It would also allow for additional reimbursement of travel costs related to council-approved appointments to an external body.
The mayor’s travel expenses would require signing off by the city’s chief financial officer to ensure compliance with the policy and confirmation that the expenditure is within approved budgets.
To be eligible for reimbursement, expense claims would need to be submitted within the same fiscal year as the expense.
Finally, council will consider changing the policy to allow council members to claim per diems for travel instead of submitting actual receipts, but require that any per diems claimed can only relate to the meals not covered by a conference.
The potential changes are among recommendations from the 2024 Council Remuneration Task Force.
Currently there are no stipulations in the city’s policy about how the travel budget is to be allocated, nor are there limits as to how many travel reimbursements each councillor can submit. Based on actual spend over the last few years, the average cost for councillors has ranged from $5,000 to $5,600, the report shows.
Residents can attend the 9 a.m. meeting in person or online at victoria.ca.
