3,904 Border City Designation

Posted on October 21, 2021 at 12:49 PM by Kansas Department of Administration

POLICY MANUAL	Filing No.3,904
Revision Date:07/01/2010 Date Issued:03/76 Minor Revisions throughout

SUBJECT

Border City Designation

PURPOSE

K.A.R. 1-16-18(a)(3) authorizes travel to cities or areas outside the borders of the State of Kansas which have been designated as "border cities", at in-state subsistence rates for meals and lodging. This filing:

establishes procedures for state agencies to request a city or an area be designated as a "border city"; and
establishes procedures for state agencies to request that an approved "border city" be designated as a "high cost border city."

A complete list of approved "border cities" and reimbursement rates is provided in Appendix A of the Employee Travel Expense Reimbursement Handbook (http://www.da.ks.gov/ar/employee/travel/travbkSMART11.htm).

AUTHORITATIVE REFERENCES

K.S.A. 75-3208
K.A.R. 1-16-18 et seq.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Subject to the approval of the Secretary of Administration, the Director of the Office of Financial Management may designate any city in a state bordering or near Kansas as a border city, except those areas designated as “High Cost Geographic Areas” in K.A.R. 1-16-18a. A complete list of approved “border cities” and reimbursement rates is provided in Appendix A of the Employee Travel Expense Reimbursement Handbook.

The head of an agency may permit employees required to travel to these border cities to claim meal and lodging expense reimbursement at in-state rates. Travel to border cities does not require prior written approval of the agency head or designee as required for out-of-state travel by K.S.A. 75-3208 and paragraph 2101 of the Employee Travel Expense Reimbursement Handbook.

An agency may request the Director of the Office of Financial Management to designate a city or an area as a border city. An agency may also request the Director to designate an approved border city as a high cost border city. The procedures for making these requests are noted in the following section.

PROCEDURES

Responsibility	Action Step
Agency	Determines that travel to out-of-state city or area is desired under the border city rule. Ensures that the city or area is not approved as a border city in PPM filing 3,903, Appendix A of the Employee Travel Expense Reimbursement Handbook, or is not a high cost geographic area in Appendix B of the Employee Travel Expense Reimbursement Handbook. Prepares and sends a letter to the Director of the Office of Financial Management requesting that the city or area be designated as a border city. The letter should specify if the border city should be designated as high cost.
Office of Financial Management	Reviews the request, performs a subsistence cost study of the city or area, and forwards an approval/disapproval recommendation to the Secretary of Administration.
Secretary of Administration	Approves or disapproves the border city or high cost border city designation request.
Office of Financial Management	Notifies the agency of approval or disapproval of border city designation request. If the request is approved, an Informational Circular is sent to all state agencies.
Agency	If the request is approved, the head of the agency may authorize the travel under the border city rule. "Border city travel" should be noted in the comments section of the SMART Travel Expense report If the request is disapproved, the travel must be approved under the out-of-state travel procedures in paragraph 2101 of the Employee Travel Expense Reimbursement Handbook.

CONTACT SOURCES

Questions concerning border city designation should be directed to:

Office of Financial Management

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