The Travel Disclosure Report is used to report reasonable hosting expenses paid by a source other than the City of Atlanta for travel, meals, lodging, and conference registration. The report is due within 30 days of the travel, event, or reimbursement.
Requirements
-
Reimbursement is limited to hosting expenses, which include travel, meals, lodging, and registration
-
Expenses must be reasonable
-
Travel must be in an official capacity
-
Expenses paid by a source other than City must be publicly disclosed
-
Reports are due within 30 days of the travel or reimbursement
Expenses Paid by a Prohibited Source
Officials or employees may accept "reasonable hosting expenses" from prohibited sources for travel in four situations:
A "speaking engagement" does not include a sales pitch at a business meeting or comments made at a vendor briefing on a new product. To determine whether a particular event is a speaking engagement, one must consider whether there is an invitation to speak, prepared remarks, a formal presentation, an audience, and a public or publicly known event. See FAO2006-2 (when expense reimbursements may be accepted from prohibited sources).
Example: A city employee may accept expense reimbursements from a city vendor to travel to Washington, D.C. to participate on a panel at a professional conference and describe a city project that used the vendor’s product.
Example: A city employee may accept a city contractor's offer to waive the registration fee for a local seminar that the employee attends in an official capacity. The department must approve the employee's attendance at the seminar under the same procedures that it uses to approve city-financed training.
Example: A fact-finding trip to review a best-practices program in another city does not fall within the exception for participation on a panel. Therefore, a city employee or city council member may not accept a lobbyist's offer to pay the travel costs for the trip.
Expenses Paid by Other Non-City Sources
Officials or employees may accept expense reimbursements from non-city sources for travel in an official capacity. There is no restriction on the purpose of the trip, if the entity paying for the travel is not a prohibited source.
Example: A recreation department employee may accept airfare, lodging, and meals from the National Football League’s Youth Football Fund to attend a national summit of municipal employees from the 32 NFL team cities to develop a strategic plan to promote youth football.
Example: A city planner may accept expense reimbursements for airfare, hotel expenses, and meals from another city to participate in a peer review of that city’s planning and historic preservation program.
Example: A council member may accept a fellowship to attend a one-month leadership training program at a private university.
Disclosure Required
The individual who accepts payments or expense reimbursements from any source other than the City of Atlanta must disclose the expenses on the online Travel Disclosure Report. The report is due within 30 days of the travel or the receipt of the reimbursement. Thus, a city employee or official who travels in an official capacity files an expense report as required by the Department of Finance when the city pays for the travel or files an online report in the Electronic Disclosure System when another entity pays.
What to Disclose
To review the information required in the report, download the form. It specifically asks the following:
- Donor's name and address
- Date, location, and subject matter of the event
- Amount paid for travel, meals, lodging, and other expenses
Frequently Asked Questions
For more information, see the frequently asked questions on Gifts & Gratuities or contact the Ethics Office.